Xavier Soup

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup butter

½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

A grating of fresh nutmeg

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

10 cups chicken stock (I did 8 cups)

Additional chopped parsley for garnishing

Directions:

1. Line a large baking sheet with well-buttered parchment paper. Fit a sturdy piping bag with a large round tip.
2. In a medium saucepan, over low heat, work the flour, cream, butter, and cheese into a soft dough.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the salt, pepper, nutmeg, eggs, yolks, and tablespoon of chopped parsley.
4. Spoon the dough into the piping bag and squeeze out 1-inch lengths onto the prepared pan. Use a butter knife to separate the dough from the tip once you’ve piped out shapes of the proper length.
5. Let stand for 30 minutes.
6. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In another, smaller saucepan, warm up the chicken stock.
7. Drop one third of the dumplings into the boiling water, and boil until they are tender and cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the heated chicken stock.
8. Repeat process with the remaining dumplings.
9. Once all the dumpling are cooked and in the chicken stock, ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with additional chopped parsley. Serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings

Notes: A few thoughts here. First, I only made this recipe because I wanted to make a recipe that started with the letter X, and this one seemed relatively easy. Second, it admittedly doesn't look all that appetizing. Aesthetically this soup is bland. Third: My oldest struggled with the texture of the dumplings. Fourth: I discovered (midway through cooking the dumplings) that after the dough sat for 30 minutes, it had set enough that it could be shaped by hand. Fifth: I loved this soup. The buttery, cheesy dumplings were delicious! This soup exceeded my expectations and after having it this first time it is right up there as one of my favorites.

Source: The Lass in the Apron