Legume Soup for Saint Joseph's, or Maccu di San 'Gnuseppi: "This is," says Pino Correnti in his Il Libro d'Oro della Cucina e dei Vini di Sicilia, "a ritual soup for San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph, March 19), and also a custom handed down from the celebrations of the spring equinox in classical time: the housewife clears her pantry of the leftover dried legumes in the expectation of the new harvest to come."
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients:
- 10 ounces (300 g) shelled dry fava beans
- 8 ounces (200 g) shelled peas
- 4 ounces (100 g) chickpeas
- 6 ounces (150 g) beans
- 4 ounces (100 g) lentils
- 2 bunches of borragine (a wild grass with milky white hairs; in its absence use spinach or chard)
- 3/4 ounce (20 g) fennel seeds
- A frond of wild fennel
- A medium-sized onion
- 2 sun-dried tomatoes
- Olive Oil
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Croutons made by dicing day-old bread and sautéing the pieces in olive oil
Preparation:
Set all the legumes except the lentils, which cook quickly, to soak in lightly salted water the night before.
The next day drain them, and set all the legumes to boil in a big pot of lightly salted water, adding the onion, tomatoes, and greens, chopped, after about two hours. Continue simmering for another couple of hours, by which time it will be ready. Check seasoning, and serve over the croutons, with a cruet of olive oil for people to drizzle over their soup.
The wine? A white, perhaps from the slopes of Mount Etna.
The next day drain them, and set all the legumes to boil in a big pot of lightly salted water, adding the onion, tomatoes, and greens, chopped, after about two hours. Continue simmering for another couple of hours, by which time it will be ready. Check seasoning, and serve over the croutons, with a cruet of olive oil for people to drizzle over their soup.
The wine? A white, perhaps from the slopes of Mount Etna.
