Every time I have ever walked into my grandma Ilene's house... there has been a pot of our family's traditional Italian soup on the stove. Literally, every time. We call this soup Kaplit (Kah-plit). Her mother made and grandma has been making it forever too. We believe it is a old recipe from Northern Italy.
My dad and I made Kaplit for the first time by ourselves last Thanksgiving and it turned out pretty good. However, when Jordan got to taste the "real thing" from Grandma herself this summer... he said our Kaplit wasn't as good as Grandma's. So Dad and I had to try again this year...
My entire extended family absolutely loves Kaplit and grandma is not to quick to divulge the recipe out. Her brother, Ted, printed the recipe in a church cookbook but it's slightly different from the way my grandma does it. My dad's sister, Kathy, has never written the recipe down but just makes Kaplit from how she remembers her Grandma and mom making it. Kathy wrote down the recipe this year for us so that we could try and make it grandma's way... we mixed Kathy's with Uncle Ted's recipe to get ours... My dad thinks we need to share the family recipe for any other Italian's that might be missing their homeland. ;)
First, let me explain to you what Kaplit is. It is like a chicken noodle soup but it it has raviolis and no chicken? so basically a chicken broth. The ravioli stuffing is the deliciousness. It is mostly cheese with some special ingredients. So basically a cheese ravioli soup.
Kaplit
Printable Version with no pictures.
Start with a large dose of patience!
(it takes a lot of homemade work... but WELL worth it!!)
The dough for the Noodles:
2 cups flour
1 egg
dash of salt
some water
Make a batch of noodles - whatever recipe you like best.
Grandma used 2 cups of flour placed on a floured counter top. Make a well (hole) in the flour and she added an unbeaten egg to the well with a dash of salt.
Blend everything with a fork. Add dashes of water to make moist. Add enough water that the dough is moist but not soggy. Cover with a dish towel and set aside.
The Filling:
1 pound Ricotta cheese
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 large zest of lemon
2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
3 eggs
salt and pepper
Mix cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt
and pepper together. Use a grater and take off just the yellow part of the lemons. Mix
this in the mixture. Mix well to get a smooth texture.
Preparing the Ravioli:
Roll out noodles dough thin. Place little spoonfuls (about 1 teaspoon) of the filling and then fold the other half of the dough over. Press the dough down around the filling. Take a pastry wheel and cut small squares out around the filling lumps. Let dry overnight or for two days. You may have to make more noodles to use up the cheese mixture. These can be frozen for future use.
The Chicken Broth:
1 whole chicken
6 to 8 quarts of water
2 tbs tomato paste
onion & celery
salt & pepper
For the broth, cook the chicken in the water with the tomato paste, onion and celery, salt and pepper . Remove the chicken and all the veggies
Combining & Cooking:
Bring the broth to a boil. Add noodles. They take about 5 minutes to cook, if fresh. Can turn pot down to low and keep warm, just like grandma.
SERVE & EAT!
So now you have it, the Semprini family recipe of Kaplit. We ate it and enjoyed it! It makes me appreciate my wonderful grandmother. She is such a light to my life!
First, let me explain to you what Kaplit is. It is like a chicken noodle soup but it it has raviolis and no chicken? so basically a chicken broth. The ravioli stuffing is the deliciousness. It is mostly cheese with some special ingredients. So basically a cheese ravioli soup.
Kaplit
Printable Version with no pictures.
Start with a large dose of patience!
(it takes a lot of homemade work... but WELL worth it!!)
The dough for the Noodles:
2 cups flour
1 egg
dash of salt
some water
Make a batch of noodles - whatever recipe you like best.
Grandma used 2 cups of flour placed on a floured counter top. Make a well (hole) in the flour and she added an unbeaten egg to the well with a dash of salt.
Blend everything with a fork. Add dashes of water to make moist. Add enough water that the dough is moist but not soggy. Cover with a dish towel and set aside.
1 pound Ricotta cheese
1/2 pound sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 large zest of lemon
2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
3 eggs
salt and pepper
Mix cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, eggs, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt
and pepper together. Use a grater and take off just the yellow part of the lemons. Mix
this in the mixture. Mix well to get a smooth texture.
Preparing the Ravioli:
Roll out noodles dough thin. Place little spoonfuls (about 1 teaspoon) of the filling and then fold the other half of the dough over. Press the dough down around the filling. Take a pastry wheel and cut small squares out around the filling lumps. Let dry overnight or for two days. You may have to make more noodles to use up the cheese mixture. These can be frozen for future use.
The Chicken Broth:
1 whole chicken
6 to 8 quarts of water
2 tbs tomato paste
onion & celery
salt & pepper
For the broth, cook the chicken in the water with the tomato paste, onion and celery, salt and pepper . Remove the chicken and all the veggies
Combining & Cooking:
Bring the broth to a boil. Add noodles. They take about 5 minutes to cook, if fresh. Can turn pot down to low and keep warm, just like grandma.
SERVE & EAT!
So now you have it, the Semprini family recipe of Kaplit. We ate it and enjoyed it! It makes me appreciate my wonderful grandmother. She is such a light to my life!
