Recipes

Aquacotta Maremmana

Aquacotta, or “cooked water” is a classic soup of the Italian Maremma region where it was cooked and eaten in the field as a one-pot meal by the shepherds and cattlemen of the region. In the weekly neighborhood markets, each vegetable vendor sells their own mixture of trimmed, cut-up vegetables ready to add to this nourishing soup. Here the eggs are poached; some cooks prefer to beat the eggs with grated cheese and pour it into the soup while stirring to make the shreds called stracciatella (little shreds). Season the soup at the table with mild, nutty tasting aged Pecorino Toscano, or Pecorino Romano from Rome (such as Fulvi brand). Substitute Parmigiano or Grana Padano, but avoid the much sharper common Pecorino Romano, which is actually produced in Sardinia.

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 ribs celery

2 carrots

2 medium onions

1 small whole hot dried red chile pepper

1 pound ripe tomatoes, diced (don’t bother skinning unless you’re using thick-skinned plum tomatoes)

2 pounds mixed firm vegetables (such as turnips, butternut squash, kohlrabi, celery root, parsnips, fresh shelled cranberry or Romano beans, and/or potatoes, peeled if necessary and diced)

2 bunches chard greens, Tuscan kale, and/or escarole, stems removed, washed and cut into thin strips

4 quarts vegetable stock, purchased or homemade, simmering

8 large farm-fresh eggs

1 to 2 cups grated pecorino Toscano cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Sliced, toasted crusty Italian bread

In a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed soup pot, add half the olive oil, the carrots, onions, celery, and hot pepper. Cook together until the vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add the tomatoes and remaining vegetables and cook together until mostly tender, about twenty minutes. Add the greens and cook over low heat till wilted, stirring once or twice. Add the vegetable stock and simmer fifteen minutes longer or until the vegetables are quite tender. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.

When ready to serve, crack open the eggs one at a time and allow them to poach in the soup until the whites are set but the yolks are still liquid, 3 to 4 minutes.

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Aquacotta Maremmana

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