The Unique Southern Italian Dish That Was Invented By Accident

There are so many legends about famous dishes that were invented by accident. Ruth Wakefield thought she'd create a chocolate cookie by breaking up bits of a chocolate bar and folding them into her dough, but invented the chocolate chip cookie instead. Chocolate truffles may have been a happy accident, and butter likely came about by mistake as well. Basically, all the best foods are ones we wouldn't have without some clumsy person stumbling around a kitchen, and the southern Italian dish scrippelle 'mbusse, which means crepes in broth, is one of those.

Scrippelle 'mbusse, an elegant but hearty dish from the Italian province of Teramo, involves cheese-filled crepes rolled up and served in a bowl of hot broth. It may sound unconventional, and that's because it is! Its invention was a pure accident. As the (unconfirmed) story goes, a young chef in the 19th century was cooking a meal for French officials, accidentally dropped crepes into a boiling broth, and pretended he'd done it on purpose to avoid getting fired. The rest is history. 

To achieve this perfect wintertime dish, make your favorite easy crepes recipe and sprinkle a handful of grated pecorino Abruzzese or pecorino romano cheese on each one. Then, roll them up into cigar shapes, put two (or more) in a shallow bowl, and ladle your favorite clear broth — usually made from some combination of chicken, pork, beef, and veal bones — over the cheesy crepes.

In an interview with Italian cookbook author Domenica Marchetti in Buona Domenica, Massimo Conocchioli, a consulting chef at Le Virtù in Philly, shares that his broth for scrippelle 'mbusse is seasoned with orange peel, cinnamon, and clove. The recipe is simple and customizable, but that doesn't mean it's easy to make.

Crafting perfectly thin, delicate crepes and a rich, flavorful clear broth are both quite difficult. A small tip: the trick to foolproof crepes every time is to refrigerate your batter for at least an hour before cooking. And if you're really in a bind, scrippelle 'mbusse could be a fantastic use for the bone broth in your pantry. Maybe just zhuzh it up with some secret ingredients to make it taste homemade.