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Zuppa di farro e menta
This comes from Joe Famularo's delightful book, "Good
& garlicky, thick & hearty, soul-satisfying
more-than-minestrone Italian soup cookbook". He said it was
originally made with spelt, but adapted it to use pearled barley (and
calls it zuppa di orzo e menta). The spelt I've seen sold for
sale imported from Italy is also partly "pearled", but I happened to
have whole spelt on hand and tried it, and the results were
magic. It's hard to believe such a simple soup can be so
good. Because it is so simple, however, you really do need to use
the best stock you can make or buy.
1 1/2C spelt
whole
spelt berries, imported "peeled" berries, whole wheat berries or
pearled barley all should work, but cooking times will vary by the
grain used
9C
turkey or other really good turkey or chicken stock
In a
pressure cooker (4 quart or larger), bring the spelt and stock to 15lb
pressure and cook 35 minutes. For pearled barley, cook 20
minutes at 15 lbs. If not using a pressure cooker, you may need
to simmer the whole spelt or wheat berries for two hours, or pearl
barley for 30-45 minutes.
4
ounces pecorino cheese, grated or finely cubed
Famularo
calls for pecorino romano here; I prefer pecorino toscano, which is
harder to find but a bit less sharp. Either way you need a sharp,
strong, salty cheese to bring the soup together. I tried some of
my favorite dry jack recently and it did not melt in the soup properly,
stringing and clumping into big lumps, so be careful if you experiment
with something besides the pecorinos.
1/4 C chopped fresh mint or 1T dried mint leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
When the berries are cooked, stir in the cheese, mint, and pepper to
taste.
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