Italian Penicillin soup

[dew]

Hello
I am helping a friend search for a a soup recipe referred to as "Italian Penicillin ". Someone brought it over to her father while he was recuperating from his chemo-therapy. It seems to be the only thing that he was able to tolerate. In a quick internet search I was able to find many references to "Jewish Penicillin" soup. I found one references on a blog for Italian Pastina soup which I was able to find recipes for. It has chicken broth as the base. Has anyone else heard of this recipe. I know that it would be easiest to ask the person that brought it, however we are in Canada he lives in Virgina. Thanks for your input. Dave

 

[Pat H]

They call it Italian Wedding soup nowadays. Chicken broth, rice/pastina, escarole and tiny meatballs. I grew up with it. Mmm, mmm, good.

 

[dew]

Pat
Thanks for the tip. I will pass it along to my friend. Dave

 

[Cat]

They call it Italian Wedding soup nowadays. Chicken broth, rice/pastina, escarole and tiny meatballs. I grew up with it. Mmm, mmm, good.

Right you are, Pat!! They called it Wedding Soup because Italy was such a poor country that one only saw meat on two occasions: one's wedding day or when so ill as to be near death.

The meatballs are made of lean, very finely ground veal and Parmesan. Can also be made with spinach if you can't find fresh escarole, but escarole has a much more delicate flavor.

 

[johnmfaeth]

A great varient can be found in many cities at Portugese/Spanish restaurants. They use chunks of european ham in place of the meatballs but it is otherwise the same and great. It is even better when topped with lots of parmesian cheese. They call it escarole soup.