Soup alla Canavese is an Italian soup made from white stock, tomato puree, butter, carrot, celery, onion, cauliflower, bacon fat, Parmesan cheese, parsley, sage, salt and pepper.

Sure, other things are on the menu, like Italian soups, pasta and specials of meatloaf and fried fish on Fridays.

Poached halibut, served with a kind of Italian egg-drop soup, arrives with morels and a few shrimp, gild on the lily.

The classic Polenta with chicken on tomato sauce, the Italian soup became Minestra di Fagioli (bean soup) as the production of all the kinds of beans is very common.

One of my favorite Italian soups is pasta e fagioli, which is made from borlotti beans and penne rigate, short tubular pasta.

To most Americans, the list of Italian soups is brief: minestrone, pasta e fagioli, broth for serving tortellini and recently, the thick Tuscan summer tomato concoction pappa al pomodoro.

When a friend ordered stracciatella I nearly warned her that the Italian egg-drop soup laced with spinach usually was as dull as dishwater.

A husky pasta fagioli soup thick with stubby macaroni, white kidney beans, carrots, celery and parsley almost fills its big bowl to overflowing, as does an Italian egg-drop soup with plenty of spinach in a smooth broth.

Zuppa alla modenese ("soup in the style of Modena") is an Italian soup made with stock, spinach, butter, salt, eggs, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and croutons.

A great source of lean protein, this flavorful Italian soup pairs four kinds of seafood with an antioxidant-rich tomato broth for a hearty meal.