MINESTRA from Trieste with borlotti and pearl barley – Minestra d’Orzo e Fagioli is a traditional Triestine soup with sauerkraut (capuzi garbi) as an optional ingredient.

It is one of the most comforting soups and is wonderfully brothy, nourishing and deeply satisfying.

It is a meal I enjoy cooking during Melbourne’s cold winter months.

These are three ingredients I almost always have on hand. Together they produce a soup that reflects the culinary heritage of Trieste, a city where Italian, Austrian and Central European food traditions meet.

A Taste of Trieste

My love of this soup comes from having lived in Trieste as a child. Sauerkraut, known locally in the Triestino dialect as capuzi garbi (“sour cabbage”), was a familiar ingredient in many homes throughout winter.

Even today I always keep jars of sauerkraut in my pantry. I also cook dried borlotti beans and pearl barley separately in batches, storing them in their cooking liquid in the refrigerator or freezer. This makes preparing a wholesome soup easy —simply combine the cooked ingredients, warm them together and dinner is ready.

Like most Italian home cooking, this recipe is flexible rather than prescriptive. Adjust the proportions according to your taste and what you have available.

Every Family Makes It Differently

Like the majority of the way Italians cook, the quantity of ingredients is only an estimate…use more or less of any ingredient to suit your taste and there are many versions of this soup throughout Trieste and this is important to acknowledge.

Some cooks leave out the sauerkraut altogether, while others enrich the broth with potatoes, smoked pork or lard making it a closer version to Iota, another Triestine favourite. Potatoes create a thicker, heartier soup, but I prefer a lighter broth where the flavours of the beans, barley and sauerkraut remain distinct.

The Role of Lardo

Many traditional Triestine recipes begin with lardo affumicato (smoked pork fat) or speck, which gives the soup remarkable depth and richness.

It is worth noting that the Italian word lardo can refer to different products:

• Lardo affumicato is smoked pork fat used for cooking.

• Lardo is rendered pork fat is also called lardo in Italian and simply “lard” in English.

• Lardo is also a celebrated Italian salume made from cured pork back fat, traditionally seasoned with herbs and spices. Perhaps the most famous is Lardo di Colonnata, matured in marble basins in the Carrara region.

Lardo as a salume is eaten (sliced very thinly) and widely used in Italian cuisine especially in northern Italy; it is made from the thick layer of fat from the back of a pig and cured and no additives or preservatives are used.

Lardo does make a big difference if used – it will enrich the taste and the texture of the soup.

I generally do not have Lardo in my fridge but I can easily purchase it if I wish.

No lardo? I finish each bowl with a generous drizzle of excellent extra virgin olive oil and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Dried Beans or Canned?

I almost always cook dried borlotti beans because they are inexpensive, delicious and produce a wonderfully flavoursome cooking liquid that becomes part of the soup. If I drain borlotti, for example in a sale, I keep the borlotti broth and use it as stock.

However, if you prefer to use canned beans, simply cook the barley separately and add the drained beans towards the end of cooking.

You will need additional vegetable or chicken stock because you will not have the rich bean broth that develops naturally when cooking dried beans.

Ingredients

• 250 g dried borlotti beans
• 250 g pearl barley
• 1–3 garlic cloves
• 2–4 bay leaves
• A handful of chopped parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Optional

• 80–100 g smoked lardo or speck, finely diced
• 2–3 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 150–200 g sauerkraut (capuzi garbi), drained and gently squeezed.

*** I have a recipe to make Iota, see below.

Method

1. Soak the borlotti beans and pearl barley separately overnight in plenty of cold water.
2. Drain the beans and place them in a large saucepan with fresh water, the garlic and bay leaves. Bring to the boil, then simmer for approximately 30 minutes.
3. Add the soaked pearl barley, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. If using potatoes or sauerkraut, add them at the same time as the barley.
5. Continue cooking for another 20–30 minutes, or until both the beans and barley are tender.
6. If using diced smoked lardo or speck, add it with the beans at the beginning of cooking so its flavour slowly enriches the broth.
7. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

Serve hot with a generous drizzle of good-quality extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.

I have always loved the Triestine word for bread—pan. Short, strong and wonderfully direct, it perfectly suits the rustic loaf that belongs beside this soup. A thick slice of good pan is all that is needed to complete the meal.

IOTA

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IOTA FROM TRIESTE, Italy, made with smoked pork, sauerkraut, borlotti beans