Zuppa Pavese

No better example exists of a cooking-from-the-pantry food than a simple soup.

After all, the chief ingredient comes from the kitchen tap.

This famous Italian soup uses but a few ingredients to delicious effect. It comes from the Lombardy region of the North and one of its principal cities, Pavia. The legend goes that during the Battle of Pavia in 1525, the French king Francois I, held prisoner by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, was fed a soup of stale bread over which was poured hot broth. The peasant girl who brought it to him enriched the soup with a raw egg. In its course from the kitchen to the cell, the steaming liquid cooked the egg to a soft poach. How regal.

My “Zuppa Pavese,” its modern Italian name, further accessorizes Francois’ soup by browning the bread in clarified butter and adding a snowdrift of grated aged cheese. If you are squeamish about runny egg yolk, you may simply poach the egg to your liking in the hot broth ahead of time. But the idea is to assemble the soup’s few ingredients in the bowl, then carefully pour the boiling broth over them all.

A bowl of Zuppa Pavese from the city of Pavia, Lombardy, Northern Italy

Zuppa Pavese
You may use regular butter but be wary of it burning in the first step. Makes 1.

Ingredients
A slice or slices of crusty, substantially crumbed bread (enough to cover the bottom of the serving bowl)
2 tablespoons clarified butter or ghee
1 and 1/2 cup broth of any kind, preferably homemade, salted to your liking
1 large raw egg
2-3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or other firm grating cheese such as Grana Padano)
Chopped flat-leaf parsley and freshly grated black pepper

Directions
Pour very hot or boiling water into a thick-walled soup bowl and set aside. Crack the egg into a small cup or ramekin; have the cheese and parsley at the ready. Over medium heat, fry the bread slice or slices in the butter until well browned on both sides. Heat the broth to a good simmer.

Drain and dry the serving bowl; place the bread in it, then slide the egg onto the bread; carefully pour the broth into the bowl. Top with the cheese and the parsley and as much grated pepper as you like.