Sicilian dandelion soup — my interpretation

An Italian friend of mine and I were discussing the meals of our youth (we are both American-Italians)  when she mentioned a dish I’d never had. Dandelion soup. I grew up eating lots of dandelion but it was generally sauteed in garlic and olive oil and then served as such. The simple sauteed dish remains my very favorite vegetable dish. We’ve been growing domesticated dandelion  for a couple of years since I love itso much and could eat it daily.

In any case dandelion soup caught my attention. We’d never eaten it. My friend told me it was Sicilian. I am not of Sicilian descent. In any case she told me it was the same sauteed version I make but then it’s thrown into chicken stock with egg and parmeggiano cheese.

It’s very early in the year in the part of the country I live in so our garden is not yet planted. I was lucky that just as I wanted dandelion there is a large amount of wild dandelion, otherwise known as weeds in our yard.

My husband picked a big bag of it. It wilts quite a bit once it’s cooked so I don’t know how to say how much I used, but I can assure you to use more than you think you need.

So this is what I did to make it. I am not assuming this is authentic at all. I only had the ingredients to go by and then I did my own thing.

• 64 oz chicken stock
• 5 eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
• 1/2 a plastic grocery bag half full of packed dandelion (how’s that for a measurement?)
• 5 cloves of chopped garlic
• salt to taste
• red chili flakes to taste
• olive oil for sauteeing

I sauteed the garlic for a few minutes and then tossed in the dandelion. Sauteed until completely wilted.

Heat chicken stock to boiling. On a simmer start stirring the stock in a steady fashion while slowly pouring the egg in a steady stream. Stirring the stock during this process is important so that the egg cooks the right way. This part is much like my Egg Drop Soup recipe here.

Following the egg, put in the dandelion and then the cheese. Salt to taste along with the red pepper flakes.

Cross-posted and slightly adapted at BlogAsheville