Of soup and love, the first is the better!

Monteverdian soup (Zuppa alla Monteverdina)

Winter is on our doorstep, dark and cold foggy nights are the norm and the tantalising aroma of soup on the stove bubbling away does not disappoint. This traditional soup from Monteverdi is hearty and robust enough to keep hunger pangs away. As Ottolenghi says "Soup soothes and strengthens, and is the very definition of true love". To taste the soup as made by the locals, you need to visit Monteverdi during the soup festival (sagra della zuppa), which is held each year at the beginning of September. 

Serves 6:

· 6 slices of stale sourdough bread · 300 g dried cannellini beans · 1 quarter of black cabbage (cleaned and cut into strips and chopped) · 1 quarter of savoy cabbage (cleaned and cut into strips and chopped) · 2 bunches of Swiss chard (cleaned and cut into strips and chopped) · 2 potatoes chopped and diced · 4 carrots · 3 sticks of celery · 2 onions diced · 1 tablespoon of tomato concentrate · extra virgin olive oil · sea salt and black pepper · pickled shallots*

  1. Boil the beans after soaking them overnight in about 2 litres of cold salted water (if you are short on time, use a tin). 
  2. Purée three quarters of the beans and return to the stock. 
  3. In a saucepan, sauté 2 carrots (diced), 1 stick of celery (chopped finely) and 2 onions (diced) in 8 tablespoons of oil. When the onions start to caramelise and soften, add all the other vegetables. 
  4. Stew for a few minutes then add the tomato concentrate diluted in a little stock. Flavour with salt and pepper. Add the stock of the beans and the remaining whole beans and cook for about 1 hour. 
  5. In a soup bowl, arrange the slices of bread (can be toasted and rubbed with a little garlic) and ladle in the soup. Wait for 10 minutes, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and top with the pickled shallots. Serve and enjoy!

* The use of pickled shallots as an accompaniment to this soup can be traced back to the friars of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter in Palazzuolo (founded in 754 AC). It may not be so easy to find pickled shallots, but you can easily make your own - see the recipe below (original recipe in Italian).

Pickled shallots

1 kg shallots · 1 litre of white wine vinegar · 1 tablespoon of sugar · aromatics including 4 cloves - 2 bay leaves -  4-5 sprigs of thyme - green peppercorns 

  1. Peel the shallots and let them boil for about a minute in lightly salted water. Drain and leave to cool.
  2. Heat the vinegar, aromatics and the sugar in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and after a minute add the shallots and continue heating for a further 2-3 minutes. 
  3. Remove the aromatics. With the help of a slotted spoon, drain the shallots and arrange tightly in sterilised Mason jars and then add again the bay leaves, thyme and green peppercorns. Fill the jars to the top with the hot cooking liquid, close and turn them upside down to form a vacuum. After 10 minutes, turn them over again and let them cool completely. 
  4. Place the jars in a cool, dark place and store them for a month before consuming them. Once a jar is opened, the shallots should be consumed within 2 weeks (or 3-4 weeks if they are stored in the fridge). 

Photo credits: https://www.pressreader.com/italy/corriere-fiorentino/20160525/281904477418259