OK, What's For Lunch or Tea Today?

[struth]

Any tinned soup is always going to be a pale imitation of the real thing. Honestly, try making some home-made minestrone soup, next time you're in a soup-making mood. I'll give you a good recipe, if you like (one of Del's).

There's lots of pasta in it [making it more like a meal] and it's very tasty!

Marco.

Sure. I will give it a go. Ive made tortoloni soup. Or xmas soup as some called it. Was a lot of work. Used to get it in a little Italian restaurant in Edinburgh I frequented a lot

[Marco]

If it's the one I'm thinking of, that's more like a clear broth with tortellini in it [not tortelloni, as they're much bigger]. Minestrone is very different, quite tomatoey, and contains red wine, chicken stock and lots of different veggies (with small, soup-sized pasta). It's very rich tasting and wholesome.

I think you'd love it!

Marco.

[struth]

They were quite decent size. Think ravioli

[Marco]

Yes, did it look like this:



That is a very traditional soup, eaten all over Italy, called tortellini in brodo. It's delicious!

Marco.

[struth]

Very similar Marco although darker stock. Loved it with Parmesan

[Marco]

No. Just don't eat red meat, apart from bangers and corned beef occasionally. I don't like it. Never did, even as a kid. Fish and poultry are fine though.

I sometimes buy spinach and ricotta tortellini and don't mind that.

Ah I see, that's cool. TBH, I'm not a big red meat eater either. Apart from lamb, which I really do enjoy, the rest I could happily live without. I enjoy the occasional steak and roast beef, but much prefer chicken (indeed all forms of poultry), pork, and also veal. I like game too (venison, wild boar, etc), but only have it very occasionally.

With Del being veggie, we also eat LOADS of vegetables and salads, together with rice, pasta and noodles. Some of Del's home-made vegetable curry dishes and Chinese stir-fries (all done in a wok), in particular are to die for, so in all honesty if for some reason I needed to give up eating meat for a month, I wouldn't find it a major sacrifice!

Marco.

[Marco]

Very similar Marco although darker stock. Loved it with Parmesan

No worries, interesting. It looks like a simple soup, but to do it right takes quite a lot of work, not just with making the tortellini from scratch, but getting the right depth of flavour into the broth!

Traditionally, all sorts of 'dodgy bits' from a cockerel (not a standard chicken) go into making the stock...

Marco.

[walpurgis]

tortellini in brodo

Marco.

"brodo" presumably being Italian for broth?

I like words and often see parallels in various languages. English being such a 'mongrel' of a language is derived from so many others.

[struth]

love tortellini.. used to make it all the time in different guises. Usually shop bought pasta tho as its not easy to make. very fiddly for big fingers

[Marco]

"brodo" presumably being Italian for broth?

I like words and often see parallels in various languages. English being such a 'mongrel' of a language is derived from so many others.

Yup, 'brodo' means broth. The majority of the Italian language, however, is derived from Latin.

Marco.