Name: Swiss Chard, Cannellini Bean, and Barley Soup (Zuppa di Biete, Cannellini e Orzo)
Yield: For 4 to 6 persons
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: ⅓ cup chopped, peeled fresh tomatoes or canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up with their juice; ½ cup pearl barley; Salt; 1 cup finely chopped onion; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; ½ cup finely chopped carrots; ½ cup finely chopped celery; 1½ cups canned cannellini beans, drained, or ¾ cup dried white kidney beans, soaked overnight as directed and drained; Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for the table; Black pepper ground fresh; 1 pound Swiss chard

Preparation info

For
4 to 6
persons

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Marcella Cucina

By Marcella Hazan

Published 1997

About

If you are in Italy and see a soup with orzo on the menu, then you are likely to have come to one of the two northeast regions, Trentino or Friuli, where barley, orzo in Italian, is a popular soup ingredient. Don’t mistake it for the pasta shape by the same name, which is more common in Middle Eastern than in Italian cooking.

I have based this chard and barley soup on various models, all from Friuli. Some may have had spinach instead of chard or cranberry beans instead