Italian Soup is a traditional British recipe, based on Charles Elmé Francatelli's recipe of 1861, for a classic soup of a part-roasted fowl or game cooked with tomatoes and vegetables in stock that's pureed and finished in white wine and stock with anchovies and capers. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Italian Soup.
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This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Italian Soup that's derived from the chef, Charles Elmé Francatelli's 1861 volume, The Cook's Guide and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.
Original Recipe
No. 182.—ITALIAN SOUP.
Half roast either a fowl, pheasant, duck, partridge, or a rabbit; and put it into a stewpan with four ounces of raw ham, two onions, six ripe red tomatas, a head of celery, a carrot sliced up, four shalots, a bay-leaf and thyme, four cloves, a small bit of mace, and twelve peppercorns; moisten with a pint of stock and a glass of wine, boil down to a glaze; fill up with two quarts of stock, or water; boil gently on the corner of the fire for an hour; skim, and strain the stock into a pan; reserve the fowl, or whatever has been used to make the soup, on a plate; pound all the vegetables in a mortar; remove this pulp into a stewpan; moisten with the stock; rub it through a tammy; pour the purée into a soup-pot; stir it over the fire until it boils; let it throw up by the side for ten minutes; skim it well, and then stir into the soup a paste made of three anchovies, a few capers, and a pinch of cayenne pounded and rubbed through a sieve; and pour the soup into a tureen already containing the fowl cut into small neat pieces.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
either a fowl, pheasant, duck, partridge or rabbit, prepared for the oven and half-roasted
120g raw ham
2 onions
6 ripe tomatoes
1 head of celery
1 carrot, sliced
4 shallots
1 bayleaf
2 sprigs of thyme
4 cloves
1 small blade of mace
12 black peppercorns
600ml stock
150ml white wine
2l stock
6 anchovy fillets
2 tsp capers
pinch of cayenne pepper
Method:
Place the game animal or bird into a pan with the ham, onions, tomatoes, celery, carrot, shallots, bayleaf, thyme, cloves, mace and peppercorns. Pour over the stock and wine then bring the mixture to a boil and continue boiling until reduced to a glaze. Add the 2l stock to the pan, bring to a simmer and cook gently for 1 hour. Skim the surface carefully then strain the liquid into a bowl. Remove the meat and set aside.
Turn the vegetables into a fine-meshed sieve and purée by pressing through the sieve with the back of a wooden spoon. Scrape the vegetable purée into a pan and pour in the reserved stock. Place on the hob, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, combine the anchovy fillets, capers and cayenne pepper in a mortar. Pound to a paste then rub through a fine-meshed sieve to puree. As soon as the vegetable stock has boiled for 10 minutes whisk in the anchovy mix. Cut the fowl or rabbit into serving pieces and place in a tureen. Pour over the soup stock and serve immediately.
