This recipe is largely taken from the Le Virtu recipe in Italian Slow and Savory by Joyce Goldstein--which, Mom & Jess, you both have. I just added in the miniature meatballs from another soup recipe of hers and some greens. This soup was so flavorful and very hearty! It was by far the tastiest soup I have ever made.
Le Virtu (with a few changes)
2 to 2 1/2 cups assorted dried beans such as chickpeas, cannellini, borlotti, and lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped pancetta or prosciutto (I used salami)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 T chopped, fresh of each: sage, marjoram, mint, thyme
1 1/2 cups diced canned plum tomatoes (I just used a whole can)
2 cups swiss chard, finely chopped
2 quarts water or chicken stock (use homemade!)
salt & pepper
3/4 cup farro (I used a tiny pastini, barley would work too)
extra virgin olive oil, grated parmesan, crumbled gorganzola for serving
Soak all beans (except lentils) overnight, then drain.
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and saute, stirring often, until the fat is released, about 5 min. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and all the chopped herbs and saute, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 min. Add the drained beans, the dried lentils, tomatoes, stock, 2 t of salt, and raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, about 1 hour. Season to taste w/ salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, make the miniature meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs
2 eggs
3 T grated parmesan
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
salt & pepper
Mix all ingredients together. Start forming miniature meatballs, about the size of a hazelnut (1/2 inch diameter). This recipe should make about 140 meatballs, but don't be alarmed--it goes really fast because they are so tiny. I made them in less than 10 minutes. Lay them out on a plate as you form them.
When the beans have 20 minutes cooking time remaining, add the meatballs, sprinkling them in one at a time (to prevent clumping). Let meatballs simmer for about 20 min to cook through.
When there are 10 minutes of cooking time left, add the pastini and let simmer for the final 10 minutes. (If you're using farro or barley, obviously add them at the appropriate time depending on how long they need to cook.)
To serve, ladle into bowls, add a thin drizzle of olive oil on top and sprinkle with parmesan and crumbled gorgonzola.
