“We picked up a mix of pulses from a small village resort Valli di Sole (20 minutes from Madonna di Campiglio) in the Trentino part of the Dolomites of Northern Italy during a Snowboarding Holiday for around 2 Euros.  Dirt cheap stuff, even though you can find the same pulses anywhere else, you just have to learn to combine them. You could also find huge bags of porcini mushrooms for a fraction of the price anywhere else”.

This is my mothers recipe, which was given to me over the phone; the wife loves it so I guess I did something right.

The Recipe: Granzuppa di Legumi Mistra

• 200 g Legumi Misti (Soup Mix, pulses etc…), soaked in water
• 3 small zucchini, cubed
• 2 medium Onions, cubed
• 1 large carrot, cubed
• 1 Celery Stalk, Chopped Stalk and Leaves
• 1 large Potato, Cubed
• 1 handful Parsley, Chopped
• 1 large Chicken Drumstick
• 200 g Pancetta Cubetti
• 1 Chicken Stock Cube
• Salt
• Pepper

Soak 200g of the Beans and Pulses from the Bag in a bowl full of water (A litre should do) this should be done over night.

Prepare all the ingredients for the soup:

Chop the Zucchini (Aka. Marrows or Courgettes) these should be as big as a Golfball or slightly larger, too large and you end up with a bunch of seeds and less side flesh. Chop to the consistency of small cubes the size of Hash Browns.  Do the same with the carrot.

Onion should be twice the size of a Golfball and cubed to the same size as above.

Celery should be a good size but not too big where it looks like it will overpower the rest of the vegetables. Remember that you want equal amounts of each vegetable. It’s always good to throw into individual bowls so that you can have a general look of what’s going into the soup. Celery should be split down the middle and chopped into 1-2mm cuts from the stock all the way to the leaves. You’ll have a bowl mixed with celery leaves and celery stalk by the end of it. Looks strange but really works out in the end.

Potato should be large, and cut into cubes similar to the Zucchini. I did not peel the potato, but this is up to the soup maker at the end of the day.

Grab the parsley in your hand and make sure you’ve got a fistful of it, chop off anything you have left. The result should be a handful of Parsley. Chop this up like you did to the Celery Stalk and Leaves. Difference here is you want more leaves than stalk.

Prepare some boiling water for the next steps. (Use a Kettle)

Prepare a large pot (mine was 15cm in Diameter and 10cm high) Add a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil to the bottom and add the Pancetta Cubes when it’s suitably hot enough. Fry the Bacon Cubes until they have thuroughly cooked, but are not crispy. Add all the veggies into the pot at this point and give them a mix. Remove the skin from the drumstick and throw it in the middle with a cube of chicken stock (this is optional you can use a breast of chicken, or no chicken at all if you wish) stir the veggies and chicken for 10-15minutes making sure their somewhat stir-fried. add salt and pepper to the mix. Add the Beans!

Add the water to the mix and start the timer for 2 hours (The water level should be at least 1-2inches from the top of the veggies). Stir occasionally and remove the chicken leg or breast once it’s cooked (10-20min) Shred the chicken and throw back into the soup (Without the bone)

This soup takes up to 2 hours,make sure that you constantly add water to the pot as it boils off and gets absorbed by the veggies. The soup toward the last 30minutes of cooking should be the consistency of a very watery risotto. It should be starchy and stirring the soup should be thick and not watery.

Notes :  It was suggested to boil the Beans and Pulses before adding to the soup, this hasn’t been attempted yet.

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Tags: carrots, celery, chicken, courgettes, dolomites, italy, madonna di campiglio, marrows, pulses, soup, trentino, valli di sole, winter