There is an Italian saying: “La zuppa fa sette cose.” It means “Soup does seven things.” Soup quenches thirst, satisfies hunger, fills your stomach, aids digestion, makes teeth sparkle, adds color to cheeks and aids sleep. In other words, soup cures most, if not all human ills.
What other category of food can lay that claim?
Soup is the ultimate comfort food. What do you crave when hit with falling leaves, the first snow or a cold or flu? Chicken soup, of course. From basic broth or “brodo” to classics like minestrone and pasta e fa*gioli, the fresh ingredients and big flavor of Italian cooking shines out in nourishing, tasty soups.
There’s no better place to prepare soup than in a cozy autumn kitchen. Delicious seasonal vegetables like onions, carrots, kale, fennel, cabbage, winter squash, fresh shell beans, chestnuts, broccoli rabe, mushrooms and more beg to be incorporated into a hearty soup or stew.
Soup is very personal to Italians. Like sports or the price of onions, soup is the subject of unending, lively debates between family members and neighbors. Most agree that simplicity, generosity and great broth are key.
Northern Italian soups tend toward generous, hearty soups based on rich brodo (broth) or water with rice, meat, seafood, mushrooms or cheese. Southern soups tend to be pasta-rich, based on olive oil, garlic and tomato. Central Italian (Rome and Tuscany) soups are bean rich and often poured over toasted bread. Near the Riviera, soups tend to be lighter, with fish, seafood, herbs and greens.
Italian soup is flexible. Instead of relying on the use of a recipe, Italian cooks follow techniques and let the available food and their creativity fill in the blanks. Techniques point the way to a satisfying, unique soup. Tomato purée, olive oil, butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rinds or ground chestnuts boost soup flavor. Wise and thrifty, Italian cooks use seasonal ingredients when they are most abundant and flavorful: spring asparagus, summer tomatoes, fall kale and mushrooms and winter cabbages and cured meats.
Similar to French soups, Italian soups may be divided into the categories of dense soup and brothy soup. Dense soups are “zuppa:” one-dish-meal thick soups rich with legumes, tomato or fish served over bread; “minestra:” first course substantial vegetable or “dry” soup like “pasta e fa*gioli,” beans with pasta; “minestrone:” filling, substantial soup or stew with many ingredients; and “farinate:” dense soup thickened with polenta. Lastly, dense soups may also be “pancotti” or bread-thickened, “passate” or puréed soup and “creme” or cream-enriched soup. “Brodi” are brothy soups served alone, with croutons, rice or small pasta.
No matter what the season or where you are, do as the Italians do when in need of comfort: make a pot of soup. It’s guaranteed to bring with it home and healing.
Italian Meat Broth (Brodo di Carne)
Although most Italian soups may be made with water, meat broths deepen the dimensions of a soup and guarantee big, successful flavor. The technique for preparing broth is the same as for making French-style stock, except that brodo is made with bones and meat. Meaty shank bones add good flavor. Use stock in place of water to yield a scandalously rich brodo.
Adapted from “Discovering Global Cuisines” by Nancy Krcek Allen
Yields about 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 quarts
5 pounds chicken parts, skinned and rinsed or 5 pounds turkey wings or 3 pounds cracked beef and veal bones plus 2 pounds lean beef (top round)
2 medium onions, about 3 cups medium diced
1 cup peeled and medium diced carrots
1 cup medium to large diced celery
12 large cloves garlic, peeled and rinsed
1/4 ounce Italian parsley stems
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf, preferably fresh
Optional: 1-1/2 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, about 4 fresh or 14-1/2 ounce can plum tomatoes, about 1 cup drained
1. Place meat and bones in 8- to 10-quart stockpot. Cover chicken, if using, with 4-1/2 to 5 quarts cold water. Cover turkey wings or beef with 1-1/2 gallons (6 quarts) cold water. Bring water to an almost boil over medium heat. Lower heat and simmer meat 30 minutes. Skim away as much foam as possible.
2. Immerse onions, carrots, celery and garlic, parsley stems, cloves, bay leaves and optional tomatoes into pot. Simmer chicken broth until fragrant, 3 hours. Simmer turkey wings or beef and bone broths 6 hours or longer. Keep brodo at a simmer: if stock boils, the impurities will emulsify into it and cloud it. Keep the level of water 2 to 3 inches above solid ingredients.
3. Remove pot from heat and cool stock slightly. Ladle stock through mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. Quickly chill it down in shallow pans. Discard bones and vegetables. Reserve meat for soup garnish or another dish. Refrigerate stock until fat congeals on top, 4 to 8 hours. Skim and discard fat. Ladle stock into storage containers. Refrigerate stock no more than 4 days. Freeze stock for longer storage up to 6 months.
4. To Serve: Throughout Italy brodos are served in small cups or garnished with fried croutons or simmered with pastina, tortellini, or dumplings to serve as a first course for holiday meals.
There are many soups that may be prepared from one brodo:
*Pastina: Cook tiny pasta in broth and garnish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
*Garnish hot brodo with strips of prosciutto and herbs or sprigs of watercress.
*Stracciatella: Heat 2 quarts beef brodo. Whisk together 3 eggs, 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 1/4 cup semolina flour or cream of wheat. Whisk into simmering broth 2 to 3 minutes.
*Simmer sliced escarole or chicory in broth and garnish with grated Pecorino.
*Simmer sliced, sautéed mushrooms or soaked and sliced, dried porcini mushrooms in brodo. Garnish with parsley.
*Brodo di Marsala: Whisk together 4 eggs and 1 cup dry marsala. Bring 6 cups brodo to a boil, remove from heat, and whisk egg mixture into broth. Season with salt and pepper.
Puréed Bean Soup (Vellutata di fa*gioli)
Tuscans are called the “bean-eaters,” but all of Italy enjoys beans and bean soups. This soup
is typical of Southern cucina povera (poor) cooking and of Tuscan bean soups. Northern cooks top bean soup with gremolada (minced parsley, lemon zest and garlic). Southern cooks season the soup with red chili flakes. The garnish makes this plain-Jane soup come alive.
Adapted from “Discovering Global Cuisines” by Nancy Krcek Allen
Yields 9 cups, 6 to 8 servings
1 pound dried cannellini (white kidney) beans, chickpeas, or borlotti beans, 2-1/3 to 2-1/2 cups
Or 6 cups cooked beans with 1-1/2 to 2 cups cooking liquid
1 large sprig fresh sage
1 large sprig fresh rosemary
6 to 8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Garnish:
8 ounces pancetta (or thick-cut bacon)
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch cubes 2 ounces country bread, about 2 slices, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Soffritto:
2 cups peeled and finely diced onion
3 large garlic cloves, 4-1/2 tablespoons peeled and minced
3/4 cup trimmed and finely diced carrot
3/4 cup trimmed and finely diced celery
1 Soak and cook dry beans: pick through beans and discard stones. Soak beans overnight in 2 quarts cold water and 2 teaspoons kosher salt. Or quick-soak beans with salt and covered in boiling water for 1 hour.
2. Drain soaked beans and place in 6-quart pot. Add, sage, rosemary, and 2 quarts cold water, cover, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cook until beans are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cool beans and cooking liquid to warm. Remove herbs, scrape leaves into soup, and discard stems.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 10- to 11-inch skillet over medium heat. Add pancetta, and fry until lightly browned. Remove pancetta with slotted spoon to a bowl, set aside. heat pan again over medium and add 2 tablespoons oil. Add bread cubes and cook until golden. Remove bread from skillet, and set aside in bowl with pancetta.
4. Reheat pan with 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat and add soffritto ingredients. Cook vegetables until tender and slightly golden. Scrape into cooked beans with 1 to 2 cups water, and simmer uncovered until creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool.
5. Transfer beans to blender (in batches) or food processor and purée in machine until smooth. An immersion blender won’t produce as fine a purée as a blender or processor, but works fine for large batches. Scrape purée into saucepan. Rinse out blender or processor with a little water and add to bean purée as necessary to achieve a creamy purée soup consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. To Serve: reheat soup over low heat. Ladle hot soup into bowls, sprinkle with croutons and pancetta, and drizzle each bowl with a little olive oil.
Try this instead:
*Go South: Season soup with red chili flakes and drizzle with parsley oil.
*Vegetarian: Substitute thinly sliced fresh shiitake mushrooms for pancetta and fry crispy.
*Sicilian: Substitute fresh fava beans (2 pounds fava pods yield 2 cups shelled beans) for white beans, and simmer in chicken stock with onion and fennel bulb until soft. Season with chopped fennel fronds. Serve drizzled with olive oil and toasted croutons.
*Spanish cooks prepare a chickpea purée with onion, carrot, leek, garlic, smoked paprika, and chicken stock. Garnish the soup with ingredients like sautéed porcini mushrooms, shrimp, or green herb oil and cubes of crisp bacon or jámon.
