Croatian Dalmatian Vegetable Soup
This soup is very similar to Italian Minestrone soup. There may be some variations in ingredients, but the basic plot is the same. This is the way I have learned it in Dalmatia. It may be a full meal because it is like stew. You may not include all ingredients I have mentioned; this is the full house.
This soup is very similar to Italian Minestrone soup. There may be some variations in ingredients, but the basic plot is the same. This is the way I have learned it in Dalmatia. It may be a full meal because it is like stew. You may not include all ingredients I have mentioned; this is the full house.
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 150 g carrot
- 100 g onion
- 80 g parsley (root)
- 50 g celery (root)
- 200 g green peas
- 100 g french beans
- 50 g tomato (puree)
- 30 g barley
- 50 g beans
- 100 g bacon (pancetta dried, smoked)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon pepper (grounded)
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon majoran
- 1 tablespoon parsley leaves (minced)
- 100 g pasta (really small penne rigate or similar)
- 80 g parmesan (grated)
- 1 liter water (or more)
- Carbohydrate 54.7007125 g
- Cholesterol 52.85 mg
- Fat 28.96122 g
- Fiber 13.6264752197266 g
- Protein 23.5515275 g
- Saturated Fat 8.9002515 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (525g)
- Sodium 640.813 mg
- Sugar 41.0742372802734 g
- Trans Fat 2.360323 g
- Calories 564 calories
Step-by-step
- Soak beans and barley over night and cook the next day until soft.
- Slice carrots, parsley and celery roots into small cubes, and finely mince onion and garlic.
- Cut pancetta into small cubes.
- Cook French beans and green peas for 10-15 minutes drain and put aside.
- Put olive oil into pot, add onion, carrot, parsley root, celery root and sauté it until soft.
- Add pancetta and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add some water, French beans, green peas, barley, beans and tomato.
- Stir and cook 5 minutes, add whole water. It may be more than 1 liter, depends how much soup you want and how dense you want it to be.
- Season with salt and pepper and half amount of oregano.
- Cook about 45 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.
- Twenty minutes before end add penne and cook until pasta is done.
- Before serving add majoran and oregano, taste and add salt if necessary.
- Serve with grated parmesan over the soup.
Thick, steaming broth holds a dense landscape of tender root vegetables, yielding beans, and al dente pasta suspended in a savory tomato-infused liquid. Achieving this textural balance requires careful management of cooking times across disparate ingredients.
The Starch Foundation
Dried beans and whole barley demand an overnight soak of at least twelve hours to rehydrate the cellular walls evenly. Cooking them separately until soft before introducing them to the main pot prevents the exterior starches from dissolving prematurely into a muddy porridge. Root vegetables like carrots, parsley root, and celery root should be diced into uniform quarter-inch cubes so they soften simultaneously during the forty-five-minute simmering phase.Legumes and Pasta Mechanics
Green peas and French beans require a brief preliminary boil of ten to fifteen minutes before joining the soup base, preserving their bright chlorophyll green and preventing them from turning drab and mushy. Small pasta shapes like miniature penne must go into the bubbling pot precisely twenty minutes before the total cook time concludes, absorbing sufficient liquid to soften while retaining a firm bite at the center. Parmesan cheese melted directly over the surface at the table provides a sharp, salty contrast to the sweet earthiness of the root vegetables.
