Acquacotta – a delicious vegetable soup
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Acquacotta - vegetable soup with kale and porcini mushrooms
Like vegetable soups? You'll love acquacotta!
Persons
4
Serving Size
1 good bowl of soup
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Total Time
1 hour, 5 minutes
Notes
Acqua cotta translates into English as the wonderfully weird “cooked water”. But fear not! This is not the Stone Soup of fairy tales. It is actually a light but satisfying one-bowl meal, full of delicious vegetables and topped with an egg. There are of course many versions of this simple dish. This one uses Tuscan kale (cavolo nero) and a couple of dried porcini mushrooms, and has a wonderful depth of flavour!
Ingredients
- Small handful (5 or 6 strips) dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 large sticks celery (including leaves)
- 2 medium onions
- 1 small can (2 cups) peeled tomatoes
- Small bunch Tuscan kale (or a few leaves of cabbage if you can’t find it)
- 1 litre (2 pints) vegetable stock, warm
- 4 eggs
- 4 slices of day-old farmhouse bread, toasted
- Extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper
Instructions
- Soak the porcini mushrooms in cold water, to cover.
- Chop the celery stalks, celery leaves and onions (medium dice - around quarter-inch pieces).
- Sweat the water out on a medium heat with a good swirl (2 tablespoons) of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- When the water has evaporated (5-7 minutes), add the tin of tomatoes, crushing them with your wooden spoon and the warm stock.
- Take the kale off its stalks, wash and chop finely. Add to the soup.
- Take any dirt off the mushrooms, chop finely and add to the soup. Strain the mushroom liquid and add too.
- Cook on a medium heat for 40 minutes. Check for salt and adjust.
- When you are ready to eat, place the toasted bread in the bottom of 4 bowls. Break 4 eggs into the simmering soup and cook for a minute or two. Serve on top of the toasted bread, with plenty of black pepper ground on top, and a swirl of raw olive oil.
