I live on my own in a one bedroom flat with a somewhat small kitchen. I kept meaning to make myself this soup while I was knocked out with the flu twice in the last four weeks. A little trick that I learned from my old boss/surrogate grandfather Nello, of Nellos’ Trattoria in Cheltenham back when I was an apprentice.
It’s unbelievably quick to make, which is what holds appeal for sick and lazy bastards like me. Behold:
Boil the kettle, dissolve a chicken stock cube in the boiling water (maybe 2 cups?). Pour into a small saucepan. Alternatively you can use, and what I use often, is the premade stocks in the tetra packs. In that case just bring it to the boil in a saucepan.
In a separate bowl, whisk together an egg and a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add a dash of tobasco if you have some. Or, you could just add some pepper, or even dried chilli flakes (I couldn’t reach mine in the cupboard so I just used pepper…). There’s enough salt from the cheese and stock once it reduces so you won’t need to add extra.
Once the stock is rapidly boiling, pour in your egg stuff. Stir! Stir Briskly! The egg will break up and form little strands and clouds. You can serve as is with some toast at this stage but I add little star shaped pastas. Wait until they cook (about three minutes? Less?) obviously before you serve up and enjoy. If you have some lying around your house, toast some sourdough and rub it with a garlic clove and slather with butter!
