If you’re looking for a hearty and filing soup this winter you need look no further than this delicious mixed pulse soup from “Buon Appetito” by Marco Roccasalvo of Campo de’ Fiori.
Pulses are incredibly popular in Italian cooking, and the country boasts a large number of indigenous vegetables. This simple, rustic dish is definitely worth trying out:
Ingredients:
- 100g dried cannellini beans
- 100g dried borlotti beans
- 100g dried chickpeas
- 100g dried broad beans
- 7g salt
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 50g finely chopped onion
- 1 clove garlic, finely sliced
- 1 celery stick (about 50g), finely chopped
- 1 carrot (about 100g), finely chopped
- 100g frozen petit pois peas
- 1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
- Rosemary sprigs, to garnish
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Pecorino Romano, grated, to serve
Leave the dried beans to soak in 2 litres of cold water for at least 12 hours, overnight is ideal. Then rinse well to get rid of any residue.
Bring 1 litre of water to boil in a large casserole, add 7g of salt, the beans, broad beans and chickpeas and let the water come back up to a gentle boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer for 40 minutes. When the pulses are cooked through, drain and set aside.
Heat a large casserole and add the oil. Gently sweat the onion, sliced garlic, celery and carrot, for a couple of minutes on a medium-high heat, making sure the vegetables do not brown. Season with a pinch of salt and add the pulses. Cover with 1.5 litres of water and bring to boil. When the water starts boiling again, add the petit pois and lower the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes then turn off the heat. Set aside 4 tablespoons of pulses and process the rest of the soup to a smooth purée.
To serve, pour the soup into warmed bowls, top with a tablespoon of the whole pulses you set aside earlier, add a rosemary sprig and a drop of olive oil and finish with a twist of freshly.
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