Le Virtù
Literally meaning The Virtues, this soup is a traditional Abruzzese spring dish featuring pork, legumes and seasonal vegetables. Using cheaper cuts of meat, dried legumes and pasta, this age-old dish was traditionally cooked at the end of winter to provide a much-needed burst of nutrition after the long, cold months. This hearty dish can be served as a main, or divided into smaller portions as a starter.
• 1 ham bone, halved
• Lard
• 1 pork snout or other pork bones
• 750g dried legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils, peas, fava beans)
• 1.5 kg fresh vegetables (spinach, carrot, celery, beet, fennel, endive), chopped
• 3 marjoram leaves
• 3 mint leaves
• 700g dry pasta
• 300g fresh pasta of various types
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped
• Nutmeg, for seasoning
• Salt and pepper, for seasoning
1. Place dry legumes in cold water and leave to soften for at least a day.
2. Cook dry legumes in lightly salted boiling water until half cooked.
3. Clean all fresh vegetables (except onion, garlic and parsley) and cook in salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.
4. Boil pork meat in a large saucepan.
5. Remove meat from the bones. Cut into small pieces and return to broth.
6. Add legumes, marjoram and mint.
7. Combine lard and parsley and cook in a medium pan until browned.
8. Add tomato sauce, onion and garlic. Stir. Add to broth.
9. Add boiled vegetables to broth.
10. When almost cooked, season with salt.
11. Add dry pasta, followed by fresh pasta and continue cooking.
12. Serve hot.