The recipe for santé soup

Tradition and festive scent: santè soup

A typical recipe from Molise that every family prepares for the Christmas holidays with small variations that make it unique and very tasty. A mix between poverty and nobility, a dish of necessity that manages to transform itself into an explosion of traditional tastes, thanks to poor ingredients that together become noble.

The santè soup is thought to have been created between 1300 and 1400 in Agnone (IS), in honor of the Queen of Naples Giovanna II, while others think that it is of Islamic origin. A recipe that later became a tribute to the typical products of Molise, each area of ​​the region - in fact - manages to give a unique touch to this dish thanks to the addition of different ingredients: mature caciocavallo, potatoes, cardoons or escarole.

Despite the small differences in the ingredients used, the basic ingredients for preparing santè soup are truly simple and easily available even outside Molise. A chicken broth (or capon), slices of bread, meatballs and a mature cheese (traditionally Caciocavallo). Taking nothing away from the original recipe, here is a version with the products that you can conveniently purchase in our online butcher's shop.

The recipe for santè soup

Ingredients

• 2 l of free-range chicken or capon broth
• 400 g of minced meat
• 400 g of aged caciocavallo podolico of ormaggio moringhello
• 4 slices of homemade bread
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon of 00 flour
• Salt and Pepper To Taste

Procedure for the santè soup

Let's start with chicken broth. Cold water, parsley, carrot and celery and the capon or chicken cut into pieces. Let it cook slowly for at least three hours. Once ready, we foam, filter and set aside. Let's now prepare the grilled slices of homemade bread, which must be placed on the bottom of the plate. Slice them and dip them in the beaten egg, then place them on a grill in the oven and let them cook au gratin for a few minutes; a valid alternative is to cut them into cubes.

Let's move on to preparing the meatballs. In a bowl, place the minced meat, the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, the egg, salt and pepper. Mix and create small meatballs, turn on the chicken broth and cook them once they reach the boil. Drain and set aside.

Now let's think about cheese balls. We take the cheeses and grate them, then mix with 1 tablespoon of flour and form small meatballs. Now let's fry quickly in extra virgin olive oil.

Now that we have all the ingredients, let's compose the dish. When we have to serve it, we start with the slices of bread on the bottom, then we put the cheese meatballs, the meat meatballs and cover everything with the very hot chicken broth. On the surface we can place small spheres of raw matured cheese. Please, eat the dish without mixing the ingredients.