Italian · lunch
25m
Total time
4
Servings
165
kcal
easy
Difficulty
tap to check off
FAQ · Things people ask
You can, but quality matters enormously here. This is a four-ingredient dish — the broth is roughly half of it. A thin, salty commercial broth will produce a thin, salty soup. If using store-bought, choose a low-sodium version, taste carefully, and correct the seasoning before adding the eggs.
Semolina is optional but traditional: it gives the egg shreds a bit more body and helps them hold together in the broth. The classic Talismano della Felicità recipe includes it. Leave it out and you get a silkier, lighter result — both versions are authentic.
Two likely causes: you poured the egg mixture too fast, or you stopped stirring. Drizzle in a slow, thin stream and keep the whisk moving in one direction throughout the entire cooking time.
Yes — a classic Roman brodo classico is often beef and chicken combined, or pure beef. Either works well. Beef broth darkens the soup slightly and deepens the flavor. Avoid anything labeled 'broth' that's mostly salt and water.
Related · You might also cook
Cotechino takes its name from 'cotica' — pork rind — which is ground into the filling and slow-cooked until it melts into something silky and unctuous, unlike any other sausage. The Romans gave lentils as gifts on New Year's Eve because their coin shape was thought to bring wealth; Artusi was writing this combination into Italian cookbooks in 1891. It's a dish with weight behind it.
Boxing Day morning, half a panettone on the counter, no one wants to start cooking. Here's what you do: slice it thick, dip it in custard, fry it in butter. Done in 25 minutes.
Pasta al burro e parmigiano — or pasta in bianco as every Italian mother calls it — is what you make when the fridge is bare and dinner needs to be on the table in twelve minutes. Butter, Parmesan, starchy pasta water: three ingredients that know exactly what they're doing.
Pizzelle come from Abruzzo, where they've been pressed in patterned irons for at least several centuries — some claim they descend from the ancient Roman crustulum. The choice between anise and lemon zest is not a compromise: both are canonical, and neither is wrong.