Italy has a great many bean soups, most of which are rather creamy in texture. Pasta e Fagioli, or pasta fazool comes to mind. This bean and cabbage soup from the Veneto is instead liquid, and gains added body from slices of toasted bread. In short, simple, frugal winter fare of the kind once enjoyed by those who couldn't afford meat. No less good for that, and now a fine option for those who are cutting back on meat consumption. To serve 4:
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound (225 g) dry Cranberry or Borlotti beans, soaked in water overnight
- 2 pounds (900 g) Savoy cabbage
- A rib of celery, cut into rounds
- An onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 ounces (50 g) cured lard or prosciutto fat (Vegetarian option: omit it)
- A bay leaf
- 2 quarts vegetable broth or unsalted vegetable bouillon
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 slices crusty day-old bread
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Rinse the beans. Remove and discard any blemished outer leaves the cabbage may have, separate the remaining leaves, rinse them, and cut them into strips.
Chop the lard or prosciutto fat. Sauté it in a casserole large enough to contain the cabbage, with the onion and the celery (if you are omitting the lard, use an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil here). Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion begins to become translucent, and then add the beans.
Add the broth, bring the pot to a boil, and reduce the heat to the barest simmer, with just a few bubbles rising to the surface. Cover and cook the beans for an hour.
Dilute the tomato paste in a ladle of bean broth. Stir it into the pot, add the shredded cabbage leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and cook everything for an hour longer, giving the pot a stir every now and again.
Heat the remaining oil in a skillet and brown the slices of bread on both sides (if you want to reduce calories simply toast them). Use them to line four bowls, ladle the soup over them, and serve at once, with a white wine, for example an unoaked Chardonnay.
Chop the lard or prosciutto fat. Sauté it in a casserole large enough to contain the cabbage, with the onion and the celery (if you are omitting the lard, use an additional 1/4 cup of olive oil here). Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion begins to become translucent, and then add the beans.
Add the broth, bring the pot to a boil, and reduce the heat to the barest simmer, with just a few bubbles rising to the surface. Cover and cook the beans for an hour.
Dilute the tomato paste in a ladle of bean broth. Stir it into the pot, add the shredded cabbage leaves, season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and cook everything for an hour longer, giving the pot a stir every now and again.
Heat the remaining oil in a skillet and brown the slices of bread on both sides (if you want to reduce calories simply toast them). Use them to line four bowls, ladle the soup over them, and serve at once, with a white wine, for example an unoaked Chardonnay.
