Much more than a simple soup
If you want to enjoy a good hot soup ,Tuscany has a long tradition in this.In the region it is possible to taste an infinite variation of soup, depending on the city you are in.
The best known outside the regional boundaries is probably the ribollita but perhaps not everyone knows a tasty soup for its unique flavor deserves as much fame as the ribollita, is the Zuppa di Aquilea, inserted between the traditional recipes by the Tuscany region with DD 601 of 22-1-19.
It is a vegetable soup that is diversified and characterized from the others for its unique ingredients like red bean of Lucca, black curly kale (also known as braschetta lucchese) and Reuben field taking flavor based on the chemical characteristics of the soil in which they grow.
The thick and creamy texture, delicate bouquet of vegetables by adding a good Tuscan extra virgin olive oil make it unique.
The best time for its preparation goes by first cold early spring, because the "braschetta lucchese "and in particular the “erbi lucchese" reach the best taste with the effect of frost. They are the real stars of the dish which alter the flavor depending on ones that are used, such as: chicory, nettle, tarragon, the piscicane (Crepis vesicaria), erbo lucchese, or the ombrellino di prato (Tordylium apulum).
The villager Committee of Aquilea spent itself, also on a quest throughout the territory to identify various ways of preparation and ingredients needed.
How to prepare the real Zuppa di Aquilea?
The original recipe requires to wash the beans and place them in soak overnight and then boil them in water to soak, pass through a sieve (thus removing the skins) everyone or leaving one part at a time. Then add to the pot the grasses and herbs, beginning with the toughest grilling, a variant is put the herbs and the erbi in another pot to wilt (steamed or in oil). Combine everything in long cooking (minimum three hours) over medium heat, add oil in cooking. Prepare the bread into small pieces or thinly sliced in capacious bowls, alternating bread (brush with oil) and cooking compound, cover bowls and let the bread you moisten well finally serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
If you don't have the time to prepare this tasty soup, don't miss its Festival held the first two weeks of August in Aquilea, small village in the municipality of Lucca.
Photo Credits [intoscana.it]
