*Mama Donadio's
Italian Wedding Soup
My Grandma handed down the Italian Wedding Soup to her daughter, my mom. Since my grandmother
didn’t read or write, my Mom and I had to actually watch her and measure everything she
did. Here is my favorite recipe of
all. It's not hard, but it is
little time
consuming. That is why
they call it wedding soup. It was
usually made for special occasions, like weddings, because it took some time to
prepare.
Italian Wedding Soup
Start with 3 quarts of water in a large kettle.
Add a whole chicken (or 4 pieces). Boil for 1 1/2 hours and skim fat.
Next, lower heat and add: salt (to taste), 1/3 cup chopped parsley, 1 cup cooked diced celery, 1 cup
cooked diced carrots, spinach (10 ounces - fresh, canned or frozen) and the small
meatballs (see recipe below). Let cook for another 2 hours. Finally
add the diced cracker meal (see recipe
below) a few minutes before you eat it.
Cracker Meal Crouton
Take 4 eggs and beat with salt and
pepper. Add 1/4 cup grated Romano
cheese and chopped parsley. Beat again. Now
add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder and gradually add cracker meal until it
thickens. Roll mixture into logs,
fry until golden brown. Dice into
croutons and add to soup as described above.
Meatballs
Take 1 pound of hamburger, add 1
beaten egg and 3/4 cup bread crumbs. Then add to taste: chopped parsley, chopped
garlic (or garlic powder), pepper, salt, and grated Romano cheese.
Mix well by hand. Be careful not to make mixture too dry. Roll into
"small" meatballs and bake on a cookie sheet at 350° until brown.
Add to soup as described above.
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*Mama Donadio's
Homemade Manicotti
8 Eggs (2 for the filling)
3 lbs. Ricotta Cheese
1 cup flour
Parsley
1 cup milk or water (or half of each)
Grated Romano Cheese
1 Tsp. Salt
Your favorite tomato sauce
To make the manicotti pancake (crepe), beat 6 eggs.
Add 1 cup of flour and 1 tsp. of salt.
Mix well. Gradually add 1
cup of milk or water. Mix
well. Batter will be thin.
Drop small ladle full of batter on hot, non-stick, frying pan or griddle.
Spread batter lightly to make a thin 5-inch, thin, pancake. Turn once.
Cook until light brown. Note:
extra unused crepes can be frozen. Just
place wax paper between each one.
Ricotta filling mixture:
Beat 2 eggs. Add Ricotta
cheese, chopped parsley, grated Romano cheese and salt & pepper to taste.
Mix. Fill each manicotti
crepe with a tablespoon of Ricotta filling and roll. Place overlapping edge down in a
lasagna pan that has a thin layer of sauce. Fill
pan with manicotti and cover with more sauce.
You can place a second layer on top or make two pans.
Bake at 350° for about 45 minutes.
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*Mama Donadio’s
Ricotta Cake
Package of
Yellow cake mix
4 eggs
2 lbs of Ricotta Cheese
¾ cup of milk
¾ cups of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
Mix the yellow cake as directed on box and place in a 9x13
greased and floured pan.
Place the
remaining ingredients in a bowl. Beat with mixer until well mixed.
Spread this mixture over the cake mix.
(The ricotta mixture may settle to the bottom that's ok).
Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Check it at 1 hour with a toothpick, if not done cook remaining 15
minutes. After cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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over), people come up to me after the speech and ask either to get my
mother's recipes or her address. I
can take a hint, so I have added this page to my site. Before I give you
the recipes, let me tell you a little about my mother.
