This dish, la minestra con il pane sotto della Ciociaria, literally soup on bread, is typical of the “poor” cuisine of the Ciociaria area (province of Frosinone), linked to traditional rural customs like using up old food and following the seasonal cycle – indeed, the dish uses stale bread, seasonal vegetables and beans.
The original recipe includes pork rinds.
Ingredients
10 slices of stale home-made bread
500 grams Swiss chard
500 grams chicory
600 grams beans
pork rinds
1 carrot
1 ripe tomato
1 stick of celery
half an onion
1 chilli pepper
1 clove of garlic
1½ litres water
100 grams grated pecorino
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
Method
Steep the beans for at least 12 hours in lukewarm water and then cook them together with the pork rind in abundant water, adding cooking salt towards the end. Wash the vegetables and cut them into strips. Then boil them. In a frying pan sauté the onion (chopped in slices), chilli and garlic and then add the boiled vegetables. Then add the beans with pork rind, chopped celery and carrot, the tomato and the water and cook for about 20 minutes. In a terracotta casserole dish, arrange a layer of of sliced bread, cover it with the soup and sprinkle with pecorino. Continue to alternate the layers until all the ingredients are used up. Sprinkle cheese on the top and let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.