Читать книгу A Long and Messy Business - Rowley Leigh - Страница 53

LA MINESTRA

Adding diced pancetta to the soffritto at the beginning

certainly gives an added dimension to the enterprise but it

is absolutely optional.

Serves eight: it’s not really

worth making a smaller

amount, and the soup will

improve over two or three

days.

200g (7oz) dried borlotti

beans

2 bay leaves

1 red chilli

6 fat garlic cloves

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, peeled and cut

into 5mm (1⁄4in) dice

4 carrots, peeled and cut

into 5mm (1⁄4in) dice

6 celery sticks, cut into

5mm (1⁄4in) dice

200g (7oz) tomato passata

2 sprigs of thyme

1 sprig of rosemary

1 head of cavolo nero,

cut into thin ribbons

100g (3½oz) ditalini or

similar soup pasta

sea salt and black pepper

TO SERVE

40–50ml (1½–13⁄4fl oz)

best-quality olive oil

50g (13⁄4oz) Parmesan cheese,

finely grated

Rinse the beans in cold water and soak them overnight.

Drain the beans and place them in a saucepan, cover

with fresh water and bring to the boil. Drain again and

cover with more fresh water.

If not soaking overnight, rinse the beans in cold water,

cover with fresh cold water and bring to the boil, then

remove from the heat and leave in the water to cool for

45 minutes. Drain the beans and cover with fresh water.

Now bring the beans to a simmer and add the bay

leaves, chilli and garlic cloves. Cook the beans very gently,

without salt, for a good 2 hours, or until they are perfectly

plump and tender. Allow to cool in their cooking water.

Warm the olive oil in a large heavy, flameproof

casserole dish, add the diced vegetables and let them stew

together for 10 minutes. Add the passata and herbs, the

beans – without the garlic and chilli – and their water and

bring back to a simmer. Squeeze the garlic flesh out of the

cloves and crush into a paste, then add to the soup.

Likewise, chop the chilli, remove its seeds, and add in turn.

Add the cavolo nero to the soup and then, making sure the

vegetables are all covered – but only just – in water,

simmer gently for 1 hour.

After this time, add the pasta and cook for a further

30 minutes. Season the soup well with sea salt and some

freshly ground black pepper if required. The soup should

be pretty thick: theoretically, you should be able to stand

a spoon in it.

Serve the soup in bowls with a little fine olive oil

poured on top and plenty of cheese to share. I like to serve

it with bruschetta, but it is by no means compulsory.

WINE: It is said that no wine, barring a little sherry, should

accompany soup; however, this is no ordinary soup but

almost a thick vegetable stew. That said, I can think of no

wine that will not sit happily alongside. Let us plump for

a Chianti, not too intense and two or three years old.

80