The night before the preparation of the recipe put all the dry legumes to soak in cold water with a pinch of baking soda (to make them softer).
After at least 12 hours, wash the legumes and put them in a pot with around a liter and half of water. Wash the celery well and all of the vegetables and cut them coarsely. Peel the onion and cut it into slices. Add the vegetables to the legumes and also add, if you want, some fresh herbs. Let them cook at a low heat, mixing from a time to time.
While the soup is cooking, prepare the fresh pasta. Pour the wheat flour in a bowl, add salt and water little by little. Knead well. Move the mixture on a table/working surface with a bit of flour in it and keep kneading it until the mixture is smooth and elastic. Let it rest for around 20 minutes and then stretch out the dough with a rolling pin or use a pasta machine.
When the dough is thin enough, with a sharp knife or a pasta machine, cut the taglierini (a pasta shape similar to linguine). Add the rice, salt, olive oil and chili pepper, if you want, to the legumes soup. Mix well and when the rice is still al dente (around 10 minutes before it is cooked), and pour the taglierini into the soup. Keep mixing until it is cooked enough.
To make the dry legumes softer (chickpeas, lentils, etc.), the night before cooking them, let them soak in cold water for at least 12 hours with a pinch of baking soda.
For the preparation of fresh homemade pasta, it is better to knead the dough with lukewarm water.
Generally, all the soups and stews have to cook at a very low heat.
Recipe Notes
Contributor: Rosaria Paladino, 80
Place: Palazzo Adriano, Italy.
Personal Background:
She started cooking when she was a child, and as an adult her cooking skills inspired also her daughter Illuminata and her two grandsons Nicola and Claudio, (this latter today is a well-known chef). The two brothers, together with their mother Illuminata, manage a country resort in Palazzo Adriano called CASALE BORGIA. Mrs. Padalino’s culinary knowledge is based on simple rules: 1.Choosing natural and local ingredients; 2. Using fresh herbs; 3. Slow cooking; 4. Cooking the food at a very low heat.
Recipe’s Personal Background
How did you learn this recipe?
The recipe for the SOUP “I VERGINEDDI” was passed on to Mrs. Padalino from her mother and grandmothers, from whom she learned all of the techniques and secrets of the farmers’ traditional culinary art. All the families of Palazzo Adriano have their own version of the dish, which is prepared during festivities, mainly on the 6th of December, in honour of San Nicola, the Saint Patron of the town.
Is there some memory/historical event connected to this recipe?
Because it is a family recipe, the dish is full of memories connected to the interviewee’s childhood. They are sensorial memories: smells, tastes, indelible pictures on the care they put into the preparation of homemade dishes.
Personal reference to tradition transmitted by relatives (preparing together, sharing, eating together etc.)?
The recipe is connected to the culinary traditions passed on inside the family, from a generation to another. The interviewee often prepared it for her sons and grandsons, conveying and transmitting her passion for cooking, the love for natural dishes and for sharing food with your loved ones.
The SOUP “I VERGINEDDI” is also the main dish of Palazzo Adriano main festivity, San Nicola Festival, when it is offered as a sign of sharing, respect and solidarity among all the citizens, their neighbours and the guests.
Mediterranean Background
Any tradition this receipe is connected to? If yes, which one? Can you describe it?
The SOUP “I VERGINEDDI” is the perfect example of Mediterranean dish because:
– rich of legumes, fibres, cereals, vegetables and seasonal or local herbs
– its fat element is olive oil
– the humid way of cooking it keeps the tastes intact and balanced
– nutritional supply.
Furthermore, this recipe – made using simple, humble and easy to get ingredients – is connected to the farmers’ culinary tradition of the Sicilian hinterland.
Any Festivity this recipe is connected to? If yes, which one? Can you describe it?
The recipe of the SOUP “I VERGINEDDI” is a typical dish connected to the ritual of the festivity of San Nicola, the Saint Patron of Palazzo Adriano, whose celebration is on the 6th December. During one of the nine Solemn Wednesdays before this date and the day of the feast, all the families prepare their own version of the dish (depending on which legumes and vegetables they have at home), they make homemade pasta.
In the past, during the cold days of December, the soup was a hot dish that was offered to the poor. Nowadays, it is tradition to promise it to the Saint in exchange of a miracle and to offer it to the neighbors, guests and the people in need, as a sign of sharing and solidarity.
Is your recipe connected to the territory you live in? Is it strictly linked to the specificity of the agricultural environment?
–
Season (season this food is linked to)
The SOUP “I VERGINEDDI” has a great nutritional power and you eat it hot, especially during autumn and winter. It is the main dish of the most important religious fest of Palazzo Adriano: the feast in honour of the Saint Patron Nicola (6th December).
Ingredient
Nutritional Importance
Health Benefits
Beans
It is a legume made up of 31% proteins, 6% lipids and 63% carbohydrates.
They have energetic and nutritious properties, they are mineralisers, they help lowering the cholesterol levels and intestinal motility. They also have diuretic and depurative properties.
Fava beans
It is a legume, made up of 50% carbohydrates, 38% proteins and 21% fibers. Moreover, there are vitamins V and C. A lot of mineral salts, like potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc and selenium.
Food suggested to anemic people because of its rich quantity of iron, but also because of the normal mineral salts supply in the diet.
Lentils
Made up of 30% proteins, 4% lipids and 66% carbohydrates. Rich of fibres, mineral salts and vitamins.
The big quantity of fibres make them very important and useful to make the gastric system work well and keep under control the cholesterol level.
Onion
They are very rich in carbs, 82%, and poor of lipids 3% and proteins 15%.
Among the many beneficial properties for the body are included its diuretic and depurative action.
Celery
When we speak about the nutritional level, we can say that it contains potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, selenium and vitamins A and C, this vitamin is lost once the celery is cooked though.
Among its main characteristics there are the diuretic and depurative ones, as it stimulates the production of urine. This makes it a great food for those who have problems with water retention and gallstones (both renal calculi and kidney stones), it also prevents formation of calculi.
Cauliflower
Made up of 53% proteins, 7% lipids and 40% carbohydrates.
Rich of folic acid, vitamins and mineral salts it is also a great antioxidants for the body.
Carrots
Made up of 12% proteins, 5% lipids and 48% carbohydrates.
Carrots are low calories vegetables, they are rich in fiber, beta-carotene, amino acids and mineral salts.
Durum wheat flour
Made up of 14% proteins, 3% lipids and 83% carbohydrates.
With its high amount of complex carbohydrates like starch, fibre and some fats, it provides the body with a great energy supply. This circumstance avoids abrupt increase/decrease of sugar in the blood which is certainly not good for our health (glycaemic level).
Extra virgin olive oil
Made up 99% lipids, and minimally of vitamins, antioxidants and phytosterols.
It is important because of the many beneficial actions such as the source of lipids, amino acids and triglyceride elements which are essential for lipid bilayer membrane. It has a mild laxative effect.
Additional information
Is it suggested to eat this meal if you suffer from some disease? If yes, for which one?
It is a very rich and complete dish, great for having as an only dish.
What is the primary base with which your food is prepared? Is this a derivative of oil or another base?
Extra virgin olive oil.
What nutrition related illnesses or deficiencies are common in your area? Are there holistic or nutrition based remedies connected to these aliments?
Useful for lowering blood levels of cholesterol and for those who have constipation.
