A Rich Piemontese Meat Zuppa

From Cosa Bolle in Pentola, the Newsletter:
Finally, Eugene writes, "I am hoping that you can help me find a recipe. When I was a little boy growing up my grandmother live with us. She came from Torino, and she would make a casserole or at least it was in a big pan. She called it something like Zuppa puma tess, my spelling and Italian is probably not right. She would cook a pork roast and then in a large iron pot she would layer bread, cabbage, and pork. She would continue the process until the pot was full then she would pour the juice from the cooked pork over it and then she would bake it. I really loved it and I have been looking for the recipe."

I'm afraid I haven't found anything quite like this. However, I have found a couple of things that are close, and here is Zuppa di Cavoli alla Moda di Canischio, from Giacomo Mascheroni's Millenni di Cucina Canavesana. It is, he says, an ancient recipe from the upper reaches of the Val Gallenca, and in the local dialect draws its name from the town of Canischio: Supa 'd coj canis-cjota. (J is pronounced like ee). Initially it was, he says, a peasant soup made from bread and cabbage with a hint of lard or toma (fresh, mild goats' milk cheese). During the reign of the House of Savoy (17th-18th centuries) it got richer, with the addition of ingredients such as fresh porcini, but he sticks to the more traditional version. To serve 6, he calls for:

• 4 1/2 pounds (2 k) of mica, which is bread made without any oil in the dough, and cooked in a wood-fired oven
• 2 winter cabbages
• 1 pound (500 g) unsalted butter
• 1 pound (500 g) aged toma from Monte Soglio (aged toma is a moderately sharp, soft goat's milk or cow-and goat milk cheese -- something along the lines of Brie without the crust)
• 1 pound (500 g) mild Italian sausage meat
• 1 pound (500 g) ground beef
• 1 pound (500 g) tomatoes
• 1/2 an onion, finely sliced
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• Several quarts of broth
• Salt

Bring the broth to a simmer, and in the meantime simmer the finely sliced onion in 5 tablespoons of olive oil and a walnut-sized chunk of butter. When the onion begins to turn blond, crumble the meat and sausage into it, brown them, and stir in the tomatoes, which I would blanch, peel, chop and seed.

While the meats are simmering:

Excise the hard ribs of the cabbage leaves, and blanch the leaves

Cut the bread into half-inch slices

Finely slice the toma

When all is ready, set your oven to 400 f (200 C). Butter an oven-proof dish and line the bottom with slices of bread, overlapping them enough to avoid leaving holes. Spread a layer of cabbage over them, followed by the meat sauce and the cheese. Repeat the process 4-5 times, finishing with a layer of bread and just the meat sauce, without the cheese. The last layer should be at least 3 fingers below the top of the pan. Carefully ladle the hot broth over the mixture, adding broth until you reach the level of the bread layer, then slip the soup into the hot oven and bake it for about an hour. The top should be browned, while the interior will be moist.

Variations: You can, if you'd rather, replace some or all the toma with freshly grated Parmigiano or Grana Padano.

The other recipe? Zuppa Canavesana, from Alessandro Molinari Pradelli's La Cucina Piemontese.

A printer-friendly version of this recipe.

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