Chicken Soup With Homemade Semolina Pasta that We Called Molbann Soup (we pronounce it Malenbon)
I eat this soup and I’m back home with Grandma!
The pasta in this soup is called “u Molbann” or “semola battuta” (semolina pasta) or “Molonband”. It’s what makes the soup so special!
Prep time: Approx. 45 min.
Cook time: Approx. 2 – 3 hrs.
Total time: 4 Hrs. +
Yield: Makes a good size pot of soup (10 – 12 servings)
Chicken Soup Ingredients:
- 1 large whole chicken
- Approx. 14 cups of water (Or enough water to cover the chicken. This will vary based on size of chicken and pot)
- 1 bay leave
- 1 chicken bouillon (Sometimes 2 are needed)
- 3 large stalks of celery (Chop the celery leaves up and through them in as well)
- 3 large carrots
- 1 large onion
- 2 large cloves of fresh garlic
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. tarragon
- 1/2 tsp. marjoram
- 1 tsp. rosemary (Grind it up in your hand before dropping it into the pot)Some Fresh Ground Black Pepper)
Semolina Pasta Dough Ingredients:
- 2 cups semolina flour (You might have to get this at a specialty shop. Or you can get your Semolina Flour online)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tbsp. warm water
- 1-1/2 tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp. of Parmesan
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- Course ground black pepper
See below for VERY detailed recipe instructions
Directions:
How to make the Homemade Semolina Pasta.
(You need to do this first because you want the pasta to have time to dry properly. You could even do this the night before making the soup.)
First
Pour the Semolina flour onto a clean counter and then make a well. Add 2 large eggs. Slowly mix with a fork, gradually adding more flour to the egg.
Next
After it’s mix well with the eggs, add some olive oil, warm water, salt, parsley, Parmesan cheese and ground black pepper using measures mentioned above. You will eventually add all the olive oil and water as you go. Start with 1 Tbsp. of each then start kneading the dough like you would knead bread dough. Add another Tbsp. of olive oil and water, knead some more. Then add one more Tbsp. of olive oil and water and knead some more. The amount of oil and water might very a little bit. You are shooting for a nice elastic consistency. When you are done kneading the dough it should almost feel dry and a little rough. Note: This dough is going to feel very tough as you are kneading it; this is why you will be slowly adding in the olive oil and water.
Next
Break up the dough into five small dough balls and let them sit on the counter to dry. I usually make the pasta dough first so it has time to dry. You want the pasta dough to dry because you will be grating the pasta with a grater. It’s easier when the pasta dough is hard when you are grating it so instead of making one large dough ball to dry, I make several small dough balls so the pasta dries faster throughout. This will make the grating process much easier.
Next
After the past dough balls have been sitting on the counter for about 30 minutes or so. (I’m assuming you have been working on the soup while these are drying). Work with the dough balls again, knead them a bit and get them a little soft again, form them back into balls and let sit on the counter to dry some more.
Next
The soup usually takes about 2-1/2 hours or so to cook so the pasta has a good amount of time to dry out a bit. Note: One thing I like to do with the pasta is make it the day before you make the soup. Go through the whole process of making the pasta dough and letting it sit out on the counter to dry as described about, then after 2 hours or so, wrap the pasta dough balls with plastic wrap and place them in the fridge. Take them out the next day a grate the pasta onto a large cutting board. Spread out the pasta and let dry for a while. (30 minutes or so is fine).
Next
After you have grated the pasta dough you will add it to the pot during the last 3 minutes of cooking the soup. So when the soup is done and is tasting great, at that time you will add the fresh grated pasta to the soup and cook for 3 minutes and then serve soup. Note: When you use a grater to grate the pasta make sure you use the side with the largest holes. You can check out the photos to see what I use to grate the pasta. After you have grated all the pasta, spread it all out on a large cutting board or on wax paper that is spread out on the table so it can dry some more in it’s grated state.
Special Note:
This Semolina Pasta Dough Recipe usually makes too much for the soup. Better to have too much than not enough. You have to make a judgment call about how much of the Semolina to add to your soup. You don’t want too much pasta in the soup or it will take over the soup and over power the chicken and the broth. So you want to make sure you have a good amount of broth left after adding the pasta. Personally I like a lot of this wonderful homemade Semolina Pasta added to the soup, but if you add too much it’s going to be a mushy mess and you will have to dig through all the pasta just to find some yummy chicken! You can always take the leftover pasta you don’t use and cook it later and add olive oil and Parmesan cheese and some fresh chopped parsley. YUM! Great snack!
How to make the Malenban Soup (Chicken Soup Recipe)
Next
Wash chicken, remove guts (insides) of chicken and throw away. Make sure you keep the skin on. Wash the inside and outside of chicken. Place chicken in a large pot, preferably a large pot that has a nice thick bottom. Add water (enough to cover chicken). Bring water to boil. Once it reaches a rapid boil, bring temperature down to a low boil. (Low boil, means almost not boiling).
Next
Add a Bay Leaf, Chicken bouillon, Large Stalks of Celery, Large Carrots, Onion, Large Cloves of Fresh Garlic, Garlic Powder, Salt, Tarragon, Marjoram, Rosemary, Ground black pepper as measured above. Stir the pot well after adding each item listed above.
Next
You will know when the chicken has been cooked enough when you see the meat falling off the bone when you stir the pot or rotate the chicken. Oh yeah, every 15 minutes or so rotate the chicken and be sure to keep stirring the soup throughout the entire cooking process about every 5 minutes or so. Note: The chicken is usually cooked enough after about 1-1/2 hours of cooking in the pot at a slow boil. This will very depending on size of pot, size of chicken and how much water was used to just cover the chicken.
Next
Once the chicken is tender and falling off the bone (This usually starts happening with the legs), you will want to carefully remove the chicken from the pot and other pieces that fall off and place it on a large chopping block. Be sure to search through the soup for any bones that may have fallen off the chicken and remove them from the soup or else your guests will get a crunchy surprise. Sometimes the legs will fall off into the soup. Once all of the chicken (And any loose bones) are out of the pot, you need to start separating the good meet from the fatty nasty parts. Take your time going through all the meat on the chicken creating a pile of good meat. Make sure the soup is still cooking at this point. Once you have all the good chicken meat separated out (Fat, Cartilage, Bones, etc… removed), you need to cut up the chicken into small byte-sized pieces. Check the photos to see the size I cut the chicken pieces into.
Important Note:
Depending on the size of your pot and the chicken itself, your soup (or broth) might still be watery. If it is, cook it some more at a slow boil to condense it some more. At this point you can also throw in another chicken bouillon and stir while letting it dissolve. Let the broth cook a while at a slow boil until it gets to a point were it does not taste watery. I usually cook the broth without the chicken for about another 30 – 45 minutes or so. I also usually have to add the second chicken bouillon as well, because of the large pot I like to use. Note: You may need to spoon out some extra grease if you see it pooling on top while the soup is cooking without the chicken. I taste until I know it’s perfect. As grandma Salerno used to say… “You put, you taste, you put some more and you just know when it’s done!” … You will just know! You also need to make sure that the carrot chunks are soft enough to easily cut in half with the side of the wooden spoon. At this point you will take the good chicken that you separated out and place it into the pot. Stir and let cook for another 5 minutes. You do not want to over cook the chicken because it will start to become tough.
Next
Very important last step! Put in the fresh grated pasta and cook for 3 minutes and serve right away. The fresh Semolina pasta is what makes this soup so special! I also like to add a lot of fresh grated Parmesan on the soup before eating.
That’s it! You’re done….. Easy as Pie!
Historical Note: I was having problems trying to find any information on the proper spelling of Malenban Soup or even the mention of that name. This is what my family has called the soup since Grandma was in Italy. So I had to ask a few relatives about this one. This is the history I have on this wonderful soup so far.
In the 12th century (1194-1250) Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick the II who was of German descent ruled over Bisgelia in the province of Barre. He built a castle called “Castel Del Monte (castle of the mount)” (castle of the mountain)
The Germans prepare a dish called “spaetzle” which is a noodle . The shape of the spaetzle resembles the pasta we make from the Semolina flour which we call “malenban”. I am still not sure of the spelling. Leon believes the Italians put their own spin on the spaetzle and it became what we now know as malenban.
There you have it. History about this soup from the family. What I find interesting is that my grandmother was from south Italy (Bisceglie, Italy) and the origins of this soup was from Germany and north Italy and made it’s impact all the way down to south Italy. Just amazing!
Update: I just had a wonderful email conversation with a guy named Vito from the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, NY who’s mother is from the same town in Italy my grandmother and grandfather are from! He said their family called this soup Molingband and eventually jokingly used to call it Marlon Brando soup. Vito is the first person outside of my family who has heard of this soup under the name of Malonbon or variations thereof.
Another Update: I have now heard from a handful of people who know this soup by the name of “Malonbon soup” and all of them have family from the Bari, Italy area. Seems this was a very local recipe.
And we have another update! 🙂 I just heard from a visitor who has family from Naples and they called this recipe “Malenbanza”! Yay, OK so I have now officially have heard three names for this soup! Melonbon, Molingband and Malenbanza.
Another update!!! The secrets are being revealed. YaY! I’m very excited about this. I was talking to Guido with Nonnabox about the pasta used in this recipe. I figured because he has this very cool “Ultimate list of Pasta Shapes” on his website that he just might know something about this. I was trying to get more information about the origin of this particular semolina pasta. Guido asked his friend Daniela Giordano about this and here is here wonderful answer.
“The pasta is called “u Molbann” or “semola battuta” – the dish is broth (beef, chicken or vegetable) with pasta made out or semolina (durum wheat semolina), eggs, grated parmigiano, parsley which is kneaded with the same broth. Then you let it rest for about half an hour covered and then cut it in small pieces, and then again in small pieces just like you do with the parsley. The recipe changes very little from area to area, is basically the same.” This is exciting because now I know why my family called this recipe “Molbann” soup, a little lost in translation we actually called if Melonbon soup. Now I know how to pronounce it and why the name. Wonderful! Here is a photo that Daniela Giordano of the “u Molbann pasta” she makes.”
I like her method with the chopping, going to try that. My grandmother used the grater, I’m sue just to save time. This is a big mystery that has been revealed, glad to finally know 🙂
Another important update:
This is from a close friend of my Mom’s which was a result of me sending my Mom one of the comments below and she send the comment to her friend and this was the detailed response with some more important history in regards to this wonderful soup recipe.
Rae, If you want to know why or how Molonband is a soup that’s from Biseglia then I will explain. During my many visits and stays in Bisceglia I visited the “Castel del Monte” which is a octagonal shaped castle about 10 Kilometers(miles) west of Bisceglia built by Frederick Hohenstaufen or Frederick the Great around the 13th. Century. During this period, this whole area of Puglia which includes Biseglia was introduced to German cuisine. If you travel north of Italy to Austria and Germany you will find a similar product being served in restaurants and sold in food stores call Spatzel.. You may find it in some of our own food stores here in this country. I hope this answers the mystery of our beloved Bisegliese soup, Molonband. “L”
Chicken Soup with Semolina Pasta Recipe Photo Gallery
Anthony's Italian-American Recipes 
I was searching the internet for Mal-en-bon. I Wasn’t sure of the spelling and I entered a number of variations. I tried searching soups from Sicily ( since my grandmother had been from Sicily) I searched Ada Boni’s The Italian Talisman cookbook. I was close to giving up when I thought maybe I should try to string all the words together Malenbon.
Chicken Soup with Semolina Pasta Recipe.
I was so delighted to see it in print and learn that so many had shared memories of this special dish. To this day the smell of freshly chopped parsley
brings me back to this home made Semolina pasta drying on the kitchen table
Grandfather was from Corato, Bari. Thank you, Anthony.
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Very, very cool finding this! My family also has come from Bari and we make Mallenben (never knew how to spell it) every Christmas!! Lots of work but lots of love! Such an amazing tradition that I hold dear to my heart! My grandma instills it in us to continue making it!
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This past weekend my granddaughter and I were talking about coincidences and I was telling her a very funny one involving Molonband, my try at spelling it, soup. She immediately went to the internet to find out what it was like since my description was not giving the full picture. After searching for something like it, we came across one which was close, but lacking the cheese and parsley (bad imitation). Well, we found yours and it was exactly like my grandmother’s, down to the sheet on the bed; which we had to make sure nobody actually threw their coat on. Both sets of grandparents came from Bisceglia; my mother’s side sailed into Boston and settled in Shrewsbury and Worcester. My father’s sailed into New York and started off living in Little Italy until my grandfather built a house in Graves End, Bklyn. The comments you received brought back so many wonderful memories. I celebrated a big milestone birthday yesterday and was feeling very blue, but now I’m thinking that if I wasn’t this old I wouldn’t have these memories to share. I think I saw a comment among these from a second cousin in Worcester, Bob Dell’Olio.
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This is amazing! I’m so glad you found the Molbann / Malenbon Soup recipe. It is a very special recipe! It takes me back to a much simpler place in time every time I make it. I spent a lot of time in a small house on Brightside Ave, Shrewsbury, MA. It’s been 48 years since I’ve been in this house and since then someone has seriously renovated it and added a second floor. It was a MUCH smaller house when my grandparents lived there. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandma Salerno enjoying the time with her, the smells of the glorious food that was always being prepared. I have very few memories of my grandma Salerno (Anna Copozzi Salerno) not cooking or serving food. I also remember the Saturday afternoons eating pasta, sauce and meatballs on TV trays with grandpa Salerno (Luigi Ruggierio Salerno) watching Candlepin Bowling:. Very special and cherished memories. The “Dell’Olio” name sounds very familiar. I believe that ties into distant cousins or close family friends. I sent your note to my Mom and asked her to remind me about how we are connected to the “Dell’Olio” name. It seems that you your family must be connected to our in somewhere, either family or friends. Bisceglie is a 1 hr drive to Santeramo in Colle where my grandparents are from. The connection of grandparents from the same area of Italy moving to Shrewsbury, MA via Boston/NY is beyond coincidence. There must be some major family connection here. I’m glad to see that you are cooking with your granddaughter and keeping old-school recipes going onto the next generations. When I hear back from my Mom on the Dell’Olio connection I will let you know. Would like to know what your family name is and see if there is a connection there. I have met a few cousins through the recipes I have put up on here. If you don’t want to put your family name here I understand, you could always send me a private note here
Ciao, Anthony
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an update since last post on this:
Note from my Mom on your post:
Anthony, My long time friend Barbara Dumas, Married Leon dellolio, They have been married over 50 years. I don’t believe there is any Dellolio connection to the Salernos. Lovely story coming from Bisceglia and settling in Worcester. Grandma actually settled in Boston and moved to Worcester when she married Grandpa Salerno. They moved to Shrewsbury much, much, later. I am going to forward your message to Leon to see if he is connected to a Bob Dellolio. Love, Mom
Leon’s note to my Mom:
Rae, This is Barbara’s husband response and I, Leone Dell”Olio will tell you that Julie C. is my cousin and the Bob Dell’Olio is my brother who lives in my parents home in Shrewsbury And, if you want to know why or how Molonband is a soup that’s from Biseglia then I will explain. During my many visits and stays in Bisceglia I visited the “Castel del Monte” which is a octagonal shaped castle about 10 Kilometers(miles) west of Bisceglia built by Frederick Hohenstaufen or Frederick the Great around the 13th. Century. During this period ,this whole area of Puglia which includes Biseglia was introduced to German cuisine. If you travel north of Italy to Austria and Germany you will find a similar product being served in restaurants and sold in food stores call Spatzel.. You may find it in some of our own food stores here in this country. I hope this answers the mystery of our beloved Bisegliese soup, Molonband. “L”
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Anthony have leftover malanban how to cook?
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Just slow reheat in sauce pot. I usually have some froze, defrost in microwave and the finish reheating in sauce pot.
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Fantastic! Worcester Italian here. My nana and her family was from
Calabria. Her paternal side from Foggia. Everyone in my family knows this recipe. We always called it “Mullenbine” and the dumplings were a little larger, almost quarter sized. Seems many of the older Italians who grew up around Shrewsbury St know it by this name. Glad to see others enjoying it.
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There certainly was a lot of Italian in Shrewsbury. Great memories!
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My cousin sent me this note around this time last year. I meant to share it here but forgot. Here is his take (he lives in Bari, our family is from Corato)…
“Dear Amy,
the term that you heard “Malenbon”, your grandmother probably said “Mallemband” which is a dialect word of Corato which means “1000 broken” and derives from the type of pasta and how it was made at home and is called “Mille broken” .
It is created by mixing flour of “semola”, eggs, salt, chopped parsley and parmesan cheese and water, creating a single block and, after drying it, it is made into many small balls (in fact in a thousand pieces) and can be eaten with a broth of meat …. or you can make a lot of very thin sheets of dough and, after dry, you can roughly break them up with your hands.
The “gumbost” is correctly said, always in the dialect of Corato, “cumbost” and is made with “poponi” (like slightly spicy peppers), extra virgin olive oil, salt and garlic and even parsley …. it has a strong flavor but very good …. especially with fresh bread.
As soon as possible I will send you some “Mallemband” … so you can taste them and remember the flavors of our land
Kisses and hugs
your cousin
Vincenzo”
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This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this. So much great history behind this recipe. Glorious. The Ccumbost made with poponi sound awesome. I’m going to make that for sure. Happy cooking and share the love.
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My Grandmother came from Bari, Italy, and I think my Grandfather grew up in Biseglia. My Grandma Pellegrini made this soup at Christmas. I always looked forward to it!!! I wanted to find this recipe so bad!!! Thank you so much for sharing this Anthony!!! I remember my Grandmother making the semolina ball and grating it, then laying it on cut open paper bags to dry. She never made smaller balls, it was one large one. She was the best cook. Every Italian dish she made was fantastic!!! She had seven children and their wives, and 11 grandchildren to cook for!!! Her cooking made Christmases extra special!!!! Mangia!!! Mangia!!!
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I grew up having this at my Grandma Pellegrini’s house at Christmas. I remember watching her make the ball of semolina. I don’t think she made smaller balls, just the big one and grating it onto a tabletop with opened up paper bags and let it dry. I think my Mom went the day before to help. There were 7 brothers and sisters , their wives, and a lot of us cousins! Thanks for posting this!!! Mangia, Mangia!!!!
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So glad you found my page. Was it called Molonband in your family? One large ball of semolina pasta is a glorious thing! Happy cooking and share the love!
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My mom is from Corato Bari and we make malenban every year at Thanksgiving with a beef broth and tiny meatballs. My mom uses a grater to make the pasta.
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Wonderful! Never had it with the meatballs. Sound delish!
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Hi Rosemarie, My parents are from Corato too and my mom at the age of 91 still makes the soup. Never had the beef broth or meatballs, but it sounds delish! She too uses the grater for it. It’s our Easter and Thanksgiving soup each year!!
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Hi!
Thanks for sharing. Just made the soup and pasta tonight. Dads side of the family from Bari.
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mangia per la tua salute! (Eat to your health). So glad you found the recipe and always nice to meet another family from Bari 🙂
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Wow I grew up eating this from my grandmother who was from Bari! Same deal, she never wrote anything down and we barely could figure out what it was called from her rough English. My family and I have been talking about this for years, wishing we could have it one more time Thank you for this! Cannot wait to make it.
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So glad you found my page. It’s a special dish for sure! Packed with warm and wonderful memories 🙂
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My grandmother was from Bari and made this soup frequently. For years it was what we made with the Thanksgiving turkey carcass. I hadn’t made it for years and was looking for some kind of instructions to supplement my memory and found this! I had forgotten what she even called it. She never wrote anything down, but it sounded like mollinban. I love finding connections like this! Thanks
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Awesome. So glad you found it. ha! “Supplement my memory”. I’m going to use that one 😉 Best soup ever and it’s always nice to hear from people who’s family called this soup mollinban. This soup with homemade Italian bread and I am taken back to a much simpler time with grandma! I miss those days and I took them for granted when I was a kid. Happy cooking, happy times and share the love.
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Some cousins and I were just having a FB discussion about this soup. We called it Malabanda. Our grandparents came from Canosa di Puglia they always said they were from Bari and were Barese. I’m excited to find your recipe with the photos. Seems like each of the aunties had their own way of making it. I haven’t done it in very many years – I’m glad to see your tutorial!
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oh my gosh I can’t believe I found other people that make molinbond! I thought my family were the only ones! Yes, it comes from my Barese grandmother. It’s my favorite thing to make in the wintertime thought I remember eating it almost every Monday night year round!
Suzanne Citere
Lighthouse Point, FL (originally from Brooklyn!)
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Yes, is a perfect meal in winter time for sure! I always like to have it with fresh Italian bread, such a treat. So where is your grandmother from? This origin pf this recipe seems very local to Bari, Italy. Merry Christmas.
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My father was from Molfettta , Bari and he taught my mothers family from picinisco how to make this pasta.
Only we roll out the dough and let it dry over night. Once dried, we pick off pierces with our fingers. They almost look like snowflakes.
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Amazing I finally found Malenbon, as it has been known to me and my family. My grandparents are from Carato, Italy and this soup supposedly a staple of the area however searching the area on the internet, this soup is not mentioned at all! I have a restaurant in New Jersey and have it on my menu as Stacciatella alla Romano because of its similarities and I had no idea how to spell it and even unsure if I was pronouncing it properly. Quick story will make you laugh. One day an old Italian couple comes into the restaurant for dinner and orders the soup. He takes a spoonful and says to his wife in broken english this a no Stacciatella its a malenbon. I was up front on the pizza counter at the time and could not believe what I just heard. So i came around the counter into the dinning room and asked the gentlemen if he just said malenbon? He replied the soup is malenbon not stacciatella. Knowing this soup came from my family in Caroto and they are all mozzarella makers, kidding around I asked him if his family made mozzarella and if they were from Carato. He replied yes and told me his uncle had a salumeria in Hoboken which is where I grew up and turns out we were second or third cousins. Great soup and I’m so glad to read your article. Thank you!
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That is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this. I know this is a special soup and as you can tell by the recipe and the effort I have put into the story behind Malenbon, I have been on a journey discovering more and more about the origins of this wonderful soup. As I suspected, Carato is close to Bari. This soups origin is definitely from the Bari area for sure. If I’m ever in Jersey I will have go check out your restaurant and specifically ask for the melanbon soup 🙂 The grated semolina pasta is heavenly!!!
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My parental grandfather was also from Corato. My grandmother, his wife, a first generation Italian-American used to make this and we never knew what she was saying when she said “Malenbon.” She also used Cream of Wheat. They lived in Stratford, CT. We also make something called “gumbost” which is hot peppers, garlic, olive oil and salt. My father went all over Italy asking about gumbost and everyone looked at him like Tony Soprano got looked at when he went to Italy with his ‘Merigan. Let me know if anyone has any 411 on gumbost!
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…“gumbost” which is hot peppers, garlic, olive oil and salt… I’ve made this to put over bare pasta but without the salt. It’s delish! I never had a name for it though. Now I do 🙂 OK, I have an amazing story about the hot oil over pasta. Back in the early 80’s my mom and older brother lived in New Orleans. My brother at that time was a shipping agent. He worked with the cargo ships that went up and down the Mississippi river. One weekend when my grandmother was visiting from Worchester, MA which she hardly ever left and happened to be in town when there was a cargo ship in from Italy. The ships captain was having a special meal that weekend and my brother got us invited to join. It was amazing. But I have to back up to the part of actually getting on the ship. If you have ever been to a cargo ship up close from the level of the water they are huge! The ship was not docked, so the only way to get on the ship was to take a tugboat out to the boat in the river and once there you had to climb a rope/ships latter. Completely vertical and lose straight up along side the ship to the top and my grandmother climbed it!!! She was probably in her late 50’s at the time, I was around 17. Well, we all got to the top deck, met the captain and some of the crew. There was a long table with about 20 place settings and in-between every other plate was a bottle that looked like a Galliano bottle from the 70’s full of hot pepper oil. The main dish was fresh pasta and the hot oil to pour over with fresh parm. It was wonderful! Since then I made the hot oil. When we got to the dining room my grandma Salerno went back into the kitchen and spoke to the chef’s in Italian for a long time! What a night! Thanks for reminding me of this special moment in time 🙂 I am now going to call my hot oil “gumbost” from now on. Happy cooking Happy times and share the love! Anthony
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Love it! And your spurted Grandmother!! I just wrote my cousin Vincenzo (my cousin Vinnie…LOL) in Bari to ask him if he has any other information. I believe my grandmother who made this Carmella Pellechia had parents form Naples…looking into it. So maybe it came from her. I wish I knew all the mysteries. I have a copy of a handwritten recipe by her where she writes “1 juice glass of olive oil” as the measurement. She also taught me how to make gnocchi! Anyway, love this thread! Thank you!
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My PATERNAL grandfather! And yes, Corato is a suburb of Bari. Really part of the Bari metro area.
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My paternal grandfather as well–Cataldo Bruno from Corato. And my Nonna making all of this. Plus,
Taralle with very little sugar but I loved them. We called fried zucchini “cocutts,” and fried pizza dough “cucca frits.” All Americanized names but I’m sure many of you fellow Barese know what I am talking about! Warms my heart and my other innards to read these comments.
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auuuhhh cocutts and cucca frits! YUM!!!! Don’t remember the fried zucchini but definitely the fried dough. That was a favorite when I was a kid. We called the the fried dough “Pizza Freet”. LOVE that stuff! Good to have one more town that is local tot his recipe on the list. Happy cooking, happy time sand share the love.
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My nanny made what we call, “malenban.” She was from Bari as well. My mother has been asking me to make it, so here goes! I haven’t been there since 1975. I hope to go back. It has been too long!
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Wonderful! One day I will visit Bari. It is on my list for sure! Enjoy the this soup, glad you are going to make it. For me it brings back wonderful memories every time I make it.
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I can’t believe it omg mallanban my mama made this and you made my day my nite my memory Mamma e Papa both came from Bari thank you so much may you be well
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So glad you found the recipe. It is indeed quite special and so many good memories attached to it. Mangia!
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My parents are from Bari and this soup is a staple in our house. My mom – who’s 89 – will be making it this weekend for Easter! Unfortunately, we won’t be celebrating with the entire family – distancing. We are making a huge pot for my brothers, sisters, their spouses and children along with my parents who are in their 90’s. In all there are 22 of us in the immediate family. We will be doing a curb side pickup of the soup for them on Easter morning.
Be safe and Have a Blessed Easter!
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This is wonderful. To bad about the distancing craziness but wonderful is not stopping you from sharing the love! This soup has a lot of love with it. So good and so many memories attached to it. Just wonderful. Happy Easter to you and your family. Easter morning curb side Molbann Soup pick up. Glorious! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Hi Anthony. Thanks for the website. My grandmother from Gravesend, Brooklyn used to make the semolina pasta for chicken soup. I remember helping her and shredding it with a cheese grater as a kid. Most of her recipes were never written down and when she passed, we found ourselves trying to “recreate” them. I don’t really remember there being a name for this recipe but I do remember she said it came from her mother (who was from Bari). About two years ago I decided to make this with my kids and came across your recipe. It’s pretty much spot on to what my grandmother used to make.
Your site made me start thinking of what this should be called. I sent a message to my cousin in Bari but she really didn’t know the recipe for some reason. I searched online and found this recipe under a few names.
“I tridde o malinfranti o maltriti sono i vari nomi per indicare in Puglia una pasta fatta a mano composta di semola di grano duro, uova, prezzemolo tritato e formaggio locale o parmigiano grattugiato.”
I’m assuming your name of Malenban is an Americanized version of malinfranti or maltriti in brodo or something similar. Either way, it’s delicious, brings back memories and will create future ones with my kids.
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Thanks for this response. Wonderful to see more possible names for this recipe. I also remember grating the cheese for my grandma when I was a kid. Wonderful memories!
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Just finished grating the pasta. Thanks again.
Mike
On Sun, Jan 19, 2020 at 2:03 PM Anthony’s Italian-American Recipes wrote:
> Anthony Baker commented: “Thanks for this response. Wonderful to see more > possible names for this recipe. I also remember grating the cheese for my > grandma when I was a kid. Wonderful memories! ” >
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Greetings from Akron ,Ohio , My Papa was from Bari and made his way to America in 1918 , and my grandmother was from Shewsberry,MA . We really thought we were the only one who made this ! We use the Farina , cheese egg parsley . We use only a white linen table cloth . This is an amazing post .. thanks for sharing
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WoW! My grandparents from Bari area as well and lives in Shewsberry,MA, on Birghtside Ave. know the street? That is pretty amazing! We probably had similar childhood 😉
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Greetings from Shrewsbury, MA. (South St). My grandmother and mother always made this soup, I do as well. My grandparents were from Mattinata, a town about 95 miles north of Bari.
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Shrewsbury! Yay, a blast from the past! Man! South street! That’s an 8 min. drive to Brightside Ave. where my grandparents lived. I spent a lot of time there. So awesome to hear that you found the recipe and that your families is similar. There is no doubt this recipe originates from the Bari region. So cool to see how a recipe makes it’s way around the world. One of my favorites! My grandma Salerno would always have fresh Italian bread with this dish. So good… and what makes it even better is the memories that go along with it.
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Does anyone have a grandmother or great grandmother who may have been in an orphanage in the Bari area around 1911-1912? The reason I ask is my mother-in-laws mother was orphaned in Bari around 1911 when her parents died of a cholera. It occurred to me that maybe she learned to make this soup from possibly nuns who ran the orphanage? That could also be the reason why so few people know of the soup and they all come from the same small region.
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We called this Soup on the Bed because my mother would grate it over a tablecloth on the king size bed! She got the recipe from her mother-in-law who was from the Bari-Foggia region. My mother is gone now and so is her recipe for both the soup and the semolina. None of us have been able to replicate either. But we all still swoon when someone mentions Soup on the Bed!
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Soup on the Bed! Love it 🙂 Yeah, so much room on the bed to spread out the drying pasta. Makes total sense. I’ve heard of many Italian grandmothers doing this.
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I wrote in last year to say that my Grandmother (who was from Bari) used to make this soup and my mother, who learned it from her her, made it often as well. I didn’t mention what we used to call it though. In my family we called it “la pasta grattata,” simply meaning grated pasta. As I mentioned above, my family made this soup from farina (Cream of Wheat) instead of flour and then grated the hardened “loaf” into boiling soup.
Something interesting occurred to me: The Italian word for flour is indeed “farina,” so I wonder if something got lost (or gained, LOL) in the translation and what was originally supposed to be made with flour ended up being made with farina in my family. When you think about it, however, that would be an improvement because farina is a good source of iron so it would be a pretty healthy thing to eat.
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In fact, my mom used Cream of Wheat, literally farina.
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Another descendant of Bari here 🙂 ….. I found this recipe on this website a LONG time ago. I’m so glad you’ve still got the page and keep it up to date! My Grandma, after Thanksgiving every year. Turkey soup with these heavenly little noodles and buckets of Locatelli! She made an entire queen-sized bed full, I make just enough to fit on my counter. Thanks so much, Anthony 🙂 ❤
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yay! a queen size bed full, nice!! Yeah, you need a lot of room to spread the pasta for drying. So good!
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Hello Anthony,
growing up in Worcester, MA, I would watch my mother make soup and molanban on Mondays all year round. I’ve been making it myself for a number of years an I’m happy to be part of a tradition.
I have bookmarked your website. Thank you so much for documenting your knowledge.
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Awesome! I too have had a lot of Molanban soup in Worcester, MA. Well technically “Shrewsbury” at my grandma Salerno’s house. It was on Brightside Ave. I have a lot of memories of that little neighborhood. I was over there almost every weekend as a kid. I was reading an article the other day that was talking about how Worcester, MA was blowing up in regards to size, popularity, real estate, etc… Have not been there in a very long time. I’m thinking a lot has changes since the 70’s?
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He Bobby So did my mother! Can’t beat it – My kids love it too!
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Greetings Bob!! Yes we would also have soup on Monday evenings!!! I LOVE this soup!!! So grateful for the recipe!!
Hope all is well with you and your family!! Cousin Dorene
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I have been looking for this recipe for YEARS. My grandparents on my mom’s side were from Bari and my grandmother used to make this all the time. She never wrote down the recipe and my mother always thought it was “bolenbon” soup so I was never able to find a recipe. After some more digging and various google searches, I found this page. Thank you so much!
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My mother in law taught me many Italian recipes. This soup she learned from her sister in law from Taranto, Italy. 2 eggs, beaten, fresh parsley, chopped, semolina, enough to make a hard ball. Wrap in Saran Wrap, refrigerate til hard. Grate as needed. Dry on towels. Put in broth. So simple.
Glad to have your recipe with the addition of a few things. Will give it a try.
My mother in law was from Salerno region, my father in law from Taranto. A fair distance from Bari .
They settled in Newark . So who knows how my mother in law acquired her recipe. Doesn’t matter, we love it and will share with our brood. Thank you.
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Awesome! This recipe is simple and simply wonderful! This particular recipe is the one meal that has the strongest memories tied to it. My grandma Salerno made this for all the time. My favorite from childhood! Getting to be that time of year to start making this again 🙂 Thanks for the reminder! Well, Taranto, Italy is only a 1 hr. drive from Bari. Even closer to Santeramo in Colle, where my Grand parents are from. This recipe is definitely very local to the Santeramo in Colle. area. Thanks for sharing. Happy Cooking and share the love!
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We have been looking for the origins of this soup online and my daughter found this website. My mother-in-laws parents were from Bari. She had a tradition of making this soup on New Years Day. Since my mother-law passed away my sister- in-law keeps up the tradition of making the pasta (I think her recipe is very close to this one)and I make the chicken soup and add little meatballs and some spinach as well. I believe the pasta is actually called Malepane. The reason I think it is spelled this way is because “male pane” means bad bread in Italian. The pasta actually looks like bad moldy bread crumbs. My relatives are also from a different area of Italy, but have never heard of this soup. It must be a tradition only in the Bari area of Italy.
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Glad you found my labor of love. This is one of my favorite things my grandma Salerno used to make. I used to beg her to make it every time I was at her house. So good!!! Malepane…. interesting… I am going to do some research on that. This recipe is definitely local to Bari. The only people that even know the name “Melonbon”, or a chicken soup with Semolina pasta have been specifically from the Bari area. The little meatballs and spinach… YUM!!!!
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I feel like I have just found the holy grail! I have been looking for this soup for YEARS! I am Italian (all four grandparents from Bari) and my grandmother and mother used to make this soup. It was one of my very favorites and my grandmother and mother were both extraordinary cooks. Flavorful, economical and very stick-to-your-ribs. Wonderful on a cold winter day! Notably (and this may be the reason I had so much trouble finding this recipe on line), my mother used to use raw farina instead of flour. The ingredients I remember were farina, egg, cheese, parsley and black pepper. My mother would make a ball out of the raw ingredients, almost like a meatloaf, and then refrigerate it until it became hard. Then she would grate it directly into simmering soup. OMG, my father and I used to LOVE this soup and would eat bowlfuls of it!
I have inquired with many Italians over the years – even people in my own family! – and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. Must be an extremely regional dish. Glad to know I wasn’t hallucinating it!
LOL.
This is a real “peasant” dish, but as any “real” Italian knows, peasant food is the best!
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Oh yes, this is a very, very special recipe indeed and does appear to be very local to the Bari area. I’ve had this recipe up for a long time and have talked to a lot of people about this recipe and the only people who were familiar with it are those had had family from Bari, or very close by. In my grandma and grandpa Salerno’s case, Santeramo in Colle: Apulia Region (Puglia), 10 Miles south of Bari. Using Farina for this is very interesting, it’s almost like a cream of wheat, but I guess if you refrigerate and then grate can have the texture of pasta? Very interesting. Well, I’m glad you found my page on this. It was one of my very favorite things my grandmother made. I used to ask her to make it a lot when I was a kid. You need lots of Parmigiano-Reggiano with it! YUM! The peasant dishes are the best!! Happy cooking!
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My family made this soup for many years around Thanksgiving .My mother made it and learned from my grandmother who I never had the honor to meet she passed before I was born. We call this chichided soup. We make it same way. But earlier someone mentioned Biscelia…this struck me my mothers maiden name was Bisceglie which they changed from Bisceglia. So my grandmother must have been from Bari and my grandfather must have been from somewhere special to have his name a town in Italy!😊
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Cool! Such a great recipe! One of my favs! My grandfather is the same. He was a Salerno and there is a Salerno Italy.
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My husband grew up with this recipe, but I had a difficult time looking anything up with a similar spelling. I’ve made it based on family instructions. I’m so glad to have found this!
His Nonna wasn’t from Bari though. She was from a small town a couple of hours away (according to Google maps).
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It’s so good! So glad you found it 🙂 Still seems to be from that southern region. My grandmother was from Santeramo in Colle. Which is about an hour from Bari. So far all the feedback I have received on this recipe is very close to Bari area. EnJoY! This was my very favorite dish that my grandmother made. I asked her to make it all the time when I was at her house. Some nice fresh Italian bread with this… Heaven!
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Thank you so much for this recipe. I was scouting through my mother’s old cookbooks and found her hand written recipes for a number of things, but could not find her Melonbon Soup recipe. My Nonna and Papa were from Bari! This is the soup I grew up with! Now I can make it for my family. Thank you so much!!!
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Yay! Glad you found the page. It’s a very special recipe and I am glad I went through the effort to get it all written down. Happy cooking!
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Bless your heart for sharing this recipe, Anthony. In our home, Cream of Wheat cereal was used in place of the semolina flour (I would imagine it easier to find and likely less expensive).
I have memories of the pasta spread out to dry on a table cloth laid upon the bed.
Of course the soup is absolutely delicious and satisfying like nothing else.
Like everyone else, my grandparents immigrated from Bari. Grandpa had a fish market in Astoria, NY, and later they move to Franklin Square where I have my first memories of Sunday Dinner “Soup to Nuts”.
Grazie!
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Wonderful! Yes, the soup is so amazing! Wow, never heard of using cream of wheat. So that was used as a flour substitute?
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Yes, evidently the main ingredient is wheat semolina flour. The Farina likely makes the finished noodle smoother??
It seems many eastern european countries combine egg and semolina to make noodles, dumplings, and what have you.
The germans might have the closest variation for soup called griebknodel. Check out semolina on wikipedia for more history.
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Hi Anthony! So happy I found your recipe. My parents are from Giovinazzo, Provence of Bari. They made Malanban soup every Easter before we had our lamb dinner. Unfortunately, both my parents have past and me and my sisters never got their recipe. We have a bunch of other recipes except this one. My mom would mix all the ingredients and my father would roll the dough out really thin and then let it dry out overnight. Then they would both sit at the table tearing off little pieces. Thanks for posting this recipe. Going to give it a try. Tanti Auguri!
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Wonderful! This recipe does seem to be from the Bari area only. Glad you found it. It’s a special recipe for sure! I have similar memories with this recipe.
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Grandma Toto from Bari made this. OMG, I could have eaten all of it if they let me. Thank you for sharing this recipe, and to everyone for giving some history about it. It’s so cold and windy here today in upstate NY, and I’m going to give this a whirl. Thanks! 🙂
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Wonderful! Yes, this is such an amazing recipe. When I was a kid and my grandma Salerno would ask me what I wanted her to make for Sunday dinner when I was visiting on the weekend I always said one of these two recipes: This chicken soup recipe or the Chicken Cutlets. Really a wonderful dish! Make sure you add lots of Parm! Glad you are going to make it! It’s wonderful!
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Made the dough yesterday but had to wait until tonight to feast. I followed your recipe exactly and omg, transported back to Grandma’s kitchen in Nyack. Haven’t had this in 30 years or more and the pasta was perfect! A little small, but perfect!
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Yay! That is awesome. So glad you made it. Yes, it takes me way back every time I make it! …to a simpler time at grandmas house.
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Hi Lisa my mothers family is from Bari and her maiden name was Tota! I showed my mom the recipe and she was so excited that other people remember this wonderful soup!
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Yes!!! My grandmother used to make this soup. She was from Bari. Sh could not find semolina flour in the store where we lived in Ft. Worth, Texas, so she used Farina to make the dough. I just remember her making the well putting the eggs in and mixing it without anything else. She would spread it to dry on the counter and the soup was my favorite ever. So glad to find you page!
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Yes, this is a simple yet magical recipe! The semolina really makes it! My grandma Salerno was also from Bari, this recipe definitely seems very local to the Bari region. EnJoY! To be authentic you must have fresh Italian bread with lots of butter with this. My grandmother made me have the bread on the side. I did no have a choice! And I had to have lots of butter on the bread. If I was wimpy with the butter she would said. You need-a more butter on that!!! and a big-a spoon! That was another thing. If you tried to eat her soup with a small spoon she would yell at you. LOL!
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My Grandmother was for Biccari, a small town near Foggia. We call this mambricoli and I made this delicious “crumb” last night. In addition to chicken soup, my Grandmother put it in beef soup.
http://www.alice.tv/posta-la-ricetta/ricette/mambricoli-e-picchio-pacchio-semola-battuta-e-pollo-in-padella/
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Wonderful! 🙂 Mambricoli is definitely a new name for this dish. Have not heard of that yet. Thanks for sharing, I love getting more information about this special recipe!
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My grandmother was from doggie too and she would make the farina dumplings, dry them on the towel then boil them in water. When they were almost done, she would add left over spaghetti sauce and smashed up meatballs to make a wonderfully delicious porridge that we enjoyed with lots if locatelli. She called it mombrigula. I thought she made it up but I see it’s regional from her home area.
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mombrigula sounds wonderful! 🙂
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Foggia. I hate autocorrect sometimes!
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haha, yeah I didn’t think I was going to find Doggie on google maps in Italy 😉 This makes sense, only a 1.5 hr drive from Bari .
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Hi, My family is from near Naples we call it Malenbanza forgive the spelling.Very similar Never knew anyone one but us who ate this. We had it every holiday in our chicken soup. I made it as a gift a few years ago for my family as a special treat. Great to see it out there.
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You are the first that has family outside the Bari are that know this recipe. Malenbanza! Good to know this has a name variation. Very good to know. I am going to add this in the special historical note I have about the recipe. Thanks for sharing. Such a great recipe! My favorite from childhood!
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I too had SUCH a difficult time finding ANYTHING referring to the “malenban” soup or the way to prepare it. I am a 4th generation family member who has only watched my aunt make the soup that my grandma and great grandma (from Bari) used to make. I was so pleased when I came across this post, thank you and have a Merry Christmas!
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and Merry Christmas to you as well! Glad you found the page! Yes, this is rare recipe and does seem very localized to families form the Bari area. Wonderful meal! One of my favorites!
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It’s so wonderful! Every time I make it I am instantly taken back to a simpler time and place at my grandma’s house enjoying a second bowl if soup and seeing her smile because i was enjoying her food so much! So much love! So far the only people that know this recipe have relatives from the Bari area. Definitely a very localized recipe!
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My Nana made this soup and I can still taste its deliciousness. She too was born in Bari. Some day I hope to visit there.
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