Simple Italian Cookery

may be added to the onion, before putting in the vegetables, one tomato, peeled and cut into small pieces. When the tomato is cooked add the vegetables. Then add water, a little at a time, until you have sufficient quantity for two persons. Take a slice of bread and cut into small squares or diamonds--toast or fry as desired--put these into the soup plates, and pour the soup (without straining) over them. LETTUCE SOUP (_Zuppa di Lattuga_) 1 small lettuce Meat stock 2 potatoes The leaves of a head of celery 2 tablespoons of peas, fresh or canned 1 heaping tablespoon of flour Put the potatoes, cold boiled, into the stock when it boils, add the celery leaves, the lettuce chopped up, the peas, and the flour mixed well with a little cold stock or water. Boil for one hour and a half, and serve with little squares of fried bread. PUMPKIN SOUP (_Zuppa di Zucca_) 1 slice of pumpkin 2 tablespoons of butter 1/2 cup of water 1-1/2 cups of milk 1 tablespoon of sugar Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds, cut into small pieces, and put into a saucepan with the butter, the sugar, a pinch of salt, and the water. Boil for two hours, then drain and put back into the saucepan with the milk, which has been boiled. Allow it to come to a boil, and then serve it with squares of fried bread. POTATO SOUP (_Zuppa alla Provinciale_) 2 large potatoes 3 tablespoons of cream or milk 2 tablespoons of butter 2 yolks of eggs Soup stock Boil the potatoes, then rub them through a sieve. Put them into a saucepan with the butter, a little salt, and the cream or milk. Simmer until it is thick, then add the yolks of the two eggs to form it into a paste. Turn out onto the bread-board, cut into small dice, and throw them into the stock, which must be boiling. If desired, before serving sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese into the soup. MACARONI AND OTHER PASTES MACARONI WITH TOMATO SAUCE (_Maccheroni al Sugo_) 2