CookEat Recipe
Zuppa alla Spagnuola
Tiny chicken and bread dumplings poached in broth and served over fried bread cubes.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 pullet or capon breast, about 200 g raw boneless meat; 20 g butter for cooking the chicken; Salt and black pepper to taste; 70 g soft white bread crumb for the dumpling mixture; 2 egg yolks; Nutmeg to taste; Plain flour for dusting and shaping only; About 2.5 litres ready-to-use broth, plus about 100 ml for the bread mixture; 150 g day-old fine white bread for croutons; 15 g butter for frying the croutons; fresh lard is an alternative.
Step 2
Cut the breast into small pieces and cook gently in the 20 g butter with salt and pepper. Add a little broth if the pan becomes dry. Cook until the poultry reaches 74°C, then lift it out, leaving the cooking juices in the pan.
Step 3
Add the 70 g bread crumb to the pan and moisten with about 100 ml broth to make a stiff bread paste. Let the meat and bread paste cool from hot to warm. Pound them very finely together with the two yolks and nutmeg; a food processor is a practical alternative. Spread in a shallow dish and refrigerate promptly until firm enough to shape. The mixture may be made the day before and kept refrigerated.
Step 4
Lightly dust a board with flour. Roll the mixture into a rope about a finger thick or less. Cut equal small pieces with a floured knife and roll with lightly floured hands into hazelnut-sized balls or smaller. Keep the flour mainly on the outside.
Step 5
Dice the separate serving bread and fry in the 15 g butter or fresh lard until golden. Put it in a tureen. Bring the broth to a gentle boil, add the dumplings and cook for 5–6 minutes, checking 74°C at the centre of a larger one. Pour over the fried bread and serve immediately as small starter portions.
Step 6
For the source’s filled-bread alternative, replace the plain croutons with small fried sandwiches: finely mince half a capon or large-chicken breast (about 100 g) with 25 g prosciutto and 15 g food-grade beef leg-bone marrow. Mix with 20 g Parmesan, one egg and nutmeg, without extra salt. Spread thinly between paired crustless slices from about 200 g day-old fine white bread, press and cut into 1.5–2 cm cubes. Fry in oil or fresh lard at about 165°C until golden and the filling reaches 74°C. Use these instead of the plain 150 g bread and its frying butter, placing them in the tureen before adding the dumplings and broth.
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