The recipe for Minestra Squisita (“Delicious Soup”) of Giuseppe Verdi is contained in the first number of the magazine La Cucina Italiana under the heading Soups and equivalent foods, under Genuine rural soups signed by the under-secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Arturo Marescalchi:

“Of this soup was enamoured, in a special way, Giuseppe Verdi, and it was often served in the Palazzo Doria in Genoa, or at the Villa Sant’Agata”.

Preparation:
cook the potatoes with salt; then peel them and grind them in a mortar, or mash with the back of a saucer. Reduced to a paste, add the 75 grams of butter, a tablespoon of flour, the grated Parmesan, and the 6 egg yolks. Shake everything well to form a homogeneous mass: then form lots of small balls, and fry these in a pan with oil. When they are cooked put them on kitchen paper to draw out all of the oil and then into a saucepan. Pour in some good stock, especially chicken, or turkey if you have some, and a little meat sauce. You will end up with a perfect soup. For six persons half the amounts.