Stracciatella, Italian egg drop soup with stridolo (aka sculpit)

Last Updated on April 12, 2022 by Aaron von Frank

Stracciatella is a savory and delicious Italian egg drop soup. Here’s our version of this timeless classic featuring stridolo, a rare Italian vegetable we grow (substitutions: pea greens or spinach).    

Ducks eggs: the perfect ingredients for stracciatella, Italian egg drop soup

We raise ducks. Since spring is here, that means we have lots of duck eggs on hand and are always trying to come up with new ways to put them to good use in the kitchen.

If you raise backyard poultry like we do, you might be in the same boat with lots of fresh eggs. Soup might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of eggs, but rest assured that stracciatella might just change your perceptions on this one. 

Stracciatella is an Italian egg drop soup recipe. As with lots of classic recipes, variations in ingredients can be found from region to region, town to town, and kitchen to kitchen in Italy. 

What does stracciatella mean? 

In Italian, stracciatella means “little rags,” which references the appearance of the eggs in the soup. Somewhat confusingly, there are also two other unrelated foods in Italy that bear the name stracciatella: a gelato flavor and a type of cheese. 

Starting to make “little rags” with our egg mixture. Pouring with one hand and photographing with the other, so this isn’t the best representation of proper technique. Ideally, you can stir the broth with a large spoon or whisk at the same time as you pour in the egg mixture. A whisk will create finer, smaller egg pieces; a spoon will create larger pieces.

While there is no single way to make stracciatella soup, the three key ingredients are:

1. good broth (our recommendation: homemade bone broth or chicken stock); 
2. quality, fresh eggs (chicken eggs will do if you don’t have duck eggs);
3. aged Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, aka the real and regulated Italian cheese not the fake stuff.           

Real parmesan cheese, Parmigiano Reggiano. Yes, you’ll taste the difference.

If you have the three core ingredients listed above, you can make a good stracciatella.

Other common but optional stracciatella ingredients include:

• lemon juice and/or zest
• white wine 
• bread crumbs
• flour
• garlic
• milk or cream
• nutmeg
• greens (most commonly spinach) 

Stracciatella is often served with a side of crunchy bread for dipping into the soup as well. If you want a quick, good, whole wheat bread recipe to serve as a side with your stracciatella, check out our 5-minute no-knead bread recipe!

Stridolo: a delightful Italian green you’ve probably never heard of

Stridolo, aka sculpit, (Silene vulgaris) is a rare Italian vegetable that we’ve been growing for years. From late winter through early spring, the young growth sprigs are tender and delicious, with a flavor most reminiscent of pea greens. 

A beautiful harvest of stridolo at the perfect stage of maturity for ideal taste and texture.

As stridolo matures, it gets tougher and starts to develop mildly bitter notes. It also produces an abundance of gorgeous, white edible flowers. (Read: How to grow and eat stridolo.)  

What better way to round out an Italian egg drop soup than with an Italian vegetable? Our thoughts exactly! 

If using stridolo in your stracciatella, we recommend sauteeing it with garlic and olive first to make the stems more tender and less crunchy. We sauteed and added our stridolo whole to the soup, but you may also prefer it diced in order to make it easier to scoop up with a soup spoon. 

Stridolo sauteed with garlic in olive oil; deglaze the pan with white wine then add it to the soup at the very end so you don’t overcook the stridolo.

Recipe: Stracciatella, Italian egg drop soup with stridolo

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Stracciatella: Italian egg drop soup (with stridolo)

Course: brunch, Dinner, lunch

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: egg drop soup, Italian egg drop soup, sculpit recipe, Stracciatella, stridolo recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 2

Author: Aaron von Frank

A simple, savory, and delicious Italian egg drop soup. Our version also uses stridolo, an Italian vegetable, but spinach or pea greens can be substituted.

Ingredients

• 4 cups bone broth or chicken stock, ideally homemade (this is the foundation of the soup so having a good broth is critical!)
• 2 fresh free-range duck eggs or large chicken eggs
• 1/3 cup packed finely and fresh-grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (0.7 ounces)
• 1 cup stridolo shoots (a little under 2 ounces) (alternative: add fresh spinach or pea greens at end to wilt into soup)
• 2.5 tbsp King Arthur's organic white whole wheat flour (alternative: semolina flour)
• 2 tbsp whole milk or cream 
• juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon
• zest of 1/2 Meyer lemon (for garnish) 
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine (to deglaze garlic-stridolo pan)
• pinch or 1/8 tsp nutmeg (can be cooked in or used as garnish)
• salt to taste (optional)

Instructions

1. In easy-to-pour bowl (such as measuring bowl), thoroughly whisk together eggs, grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (make sure it's finely grated or microplaned), flour, milk/cream, and nutmeg. Set aside. Zest and juice 1/2 Meyer lemon into separate bowls. Set aside. 

2. In small saute pan, saute diced stridolo in olive oil over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes, until it wilts and stems soften. Add garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly, until garlic begins to brown. Add white wine, scrape pan, then remove from heat and set aside.

3. On separate burner at same time as you're cooking the stridolo, bring broth/stock to simmer (e.g. small bubbles form but it's not boiling). Slowly pour in egg/cheese/flour mixture, stirring soup constantly with a large spoon as you pour. Continue stirring until soup returns to simmer and begins to clear, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add stridolo and lemon juice, then stir to incorporate. Pour or ladle soup into serving bowls, garnish, and serve!

   Best served with a side of crunchy bread for dipping. This recipe makes about 1 quart jar full of soup, or two medium sized servings.

Buon appetito! 

KIGI,

Other interesting soup recipes you’ll enjoy: 

• Maitake mushroom soup based on Thai tom kha gai
• Lion’s mane mushroom soup with broccoli and potatoes 
• Raw stinging nettle soup (yes, seriously!)
• Red shishito pepper soup
• Corn smut (huitlacoche) soup 
• American groundnut and maitake mushroom chowder
• Lion’s mane mushroom chowder
• Mom’s pumpkin chili with turkey and black beans
• African groundnut stew (maafe) with Malabar spinach
• Heirloom watermelon gazpacho