Etruscan Soup | Aimo Moroni, Alessandro Negrini e Fabio Pisani

Ingredients for 6 servings

For the vegetables

• 200g of veinless savoy cabbage leaves
• 300g of veinless kale leaves
• 4 Swiss chard leaves
• 6 fresh spring onions
• 2 medium leeks (use only the white part)
• 3 medium carrots
• 4 small and firm zucchinis, preferably the "striata di Napoli" light green variety
• 2 medium white-fleshed potatoes
• 2 stalks of green celery (preferably the small, aromatic variety)
• A bouquet garni of rosemary, sage, bay leaves, and thyme
• 1 teaspoon of wild fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon of coarsely chopped parsley and basil leaves
• 4 slices of Tuscan rustic bread, baked in a wood-fired oven
• 2 garlic cloves
• 40g of extra virgin olive oil

For the beans

• 150g of Sorana white beans
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 2 sage leaves
• 150g of eye beans

For the spelt

• 60g of Garfagnana spelt
• 15g of finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon of dry white wine
• 200g of vegetable broth
• 6ml of extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Soak the white beans in oligomineral water separately for 12 hours. Drain them and cook them in two separate pots, covered with oligomineral water (about 1 liter per pot) with half a clove of garlic and 1 sage leaf. Let them simmer for about 1.5 hours, remembering to add salt 10 minutes before removing from heat. Drain them, reserving their cooking water, place them in a single container, remove the sage, and pass half of them through a food mill. Mix the purée with the whole beans and keep warm.
In a saucepan, sauté the onion in olive oil, add the spelt, and let it sauté for 3-4 minutes over low heat. Deglaze with white wine, let it evaporate over high heat, and then cook for 30 minutes, adding a little vegetable broth at a time. Adjust salt five minutes before the cooking is complete.
Clean and wash all the vegetables. Coarsely chop the spring onions, garlic, and leek; dice the celery, carrots, zucchinis, and potatoes; chop all the leafy vegetables (savoy cabbage, kale, and Swiss chard).
In a large pot, add 30g of olive oil, all the vegetables, the bouquet garni, parsley, basil, and fennel seeds. Sauté over low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the bean cooking water, season lightly with salt, and let it simmer for about 20-25 minutes. Then, add the whole and puréed beans and continue cooking for another 10 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Plating

Dry the bread in a low-temperature oven. Place 2 slices on the bottom of a large soup tureen, pour half of the hot soup over them, and repeat with the remaining bread and soup. Let it rest for a few minutes, then serve, drizzling the remaining olive oil on top.

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Etruscan soup picture by Brambilla Serrani