Italian Egg Drop Soup

Last weekend while watching the Food TV network, I saw Giada make a super simple soup.  She called it Straciatella…or Italian egg drop soup.  She literally made this in a matter of minutes, so I thought it would be a good idea to make and either have with my lunch, or maybe an afternoon snack at work with a few crackers.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, or to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium pan.  Turn heat down to low.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, the cheese and parsley.  Slowly drizzle the egg mixture into the broth. Simmer, stirring, just until the eggs are set. Season with salt and pepper.

I actually used  a different cheese in this recipe.  Last weekend, my Mom, niece, sister and I visited a local restaurant called The Marion Street Cheese Market. After dinner, they have a fancy market with artisanal cheeses, wines, jams, and cooking gadgets/accessories.  My kind of place!

In a small basket by the cheese case were these little tiny cheese “orphans” which are wrapped very neatly and sold for only a few dollars.  The “orphans” are leftover from the big cheese wheels and too small to sell, so its easy to taste test different varieties of cheeses.The one I picked was called “Mountaineer.”  The person behind the counter described it as a semi-firm cheese that has a toasted, nutty flavor.  The cheeses are aged 6 months and go well with a nice chardonnay!

Notice the price….$16.99 per pound!  I’ll take the $3.40 cent price thank you!

I shredded it using the smallest holes on my grater.

I actually measured this out and it was only .85 ounces of cheese.

It turned out really good!  This makes 6 one cup servings.  Each cup is only 50 calories and 2.5 grams of fat. I think I might eat half the way I made it, and the other half I am going to add a little angel hair pasta and some veggies to make a more substantial soup.