Name: Zuppa di Ceci e Verdure (Chick-Pea Soup with Greens and Pasta)
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: Portugal
Ingredients: 2 cups dried chick-peas (garbanzo beans); 2 large onions, diced (3½ to 4 cups); ½ cup small pasta shells, macaroni, or orecchiette; ½ pound pancetta or prosciutto ends (a bone with meat left on it would be grand); About 6 tablespoons fruity olive oil; 3 cups chiffonade or 3 by 1-inch strips of escarole or Swiss chard, rinsed well and drained; 14 to 16 cups water for soaking and cooking the chick-peas; 2 to 3 cups Chicken Stock; Grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese for serving; Salt and freshly ground pepper; 2 cloves garlic, peeled; 3 cloves garlic, finely minced

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Mediterranean Kitchen

By Joyce Goldstein

Published 1998

About

This is one of those meals in a bowl in the tradition of stone soup. In fact in Portugal a version of this soup is called sopa de Pedra, after the folktale of the same name, where something wonderful is created out of very simple and inexpensive raw materials. Put the right humble ingredients together and what have you got? A great, soul-satisfying soup. Add some sausage and eliminate the pasta and you could be in Spain or Portugal.