Minestra Maritata is from Calabria. Maritata in the Calabrese/Calabrian dialect means married.
It is an odd name for a soup and as Danielle Alvarez says in the introduction of her recipe, it has nothing to do with marriage. I was very happy to see a version of Danielle Alvarez’ s recipe for Minestra Maritata in The Age (March 30/2024 ). Not many people have written about this recipe and what Alvarez has written adds yet another layer to this mysterious traditional recipe. Alverez has added meatballs (polpette) and this seems appropriate and the version I ate in Adelaide a number of years ago was also presented with polpette that were served separately.
I too have written about Minestra Maritata after I ate it in a small restaurant called Minestra in Adelaide and I enjoyed researching it. Mine is more based for a peasant culture and is different, but then again there are bound to be local variations in all traditional recipes.
The article and recipe from: Danielle Alvarez, The Age (March 30/2024 ).
ALSO KNOWN as “minestra maritata” , this soup actually isn’t served at weddings; instead, its name refers to the beautiful “marrying” of flavours contained in the meaty broth, savoury meatballs, sweet vegetables and, of course, the pasta. Traditionally, this dish is made by first concocting a flavourful broth using chicken, beef and/or pork bones, then adding very small meatballs, pasta and endive (escarole) towards the end. If you’re short of time, use bought stock but remember to brown the meatballs before poaching them to provide the umami kick that store-bought stock sometimes lacks. If you can’t find endive, just use spinach. You’ll be making this on repeat throughout winter.
SERVES 4 FOR THE MEATBALLS
250g pork mince 250g beef or veal mince 1 egg
cup grated parmesan cheese,
plus more for serving 1 tsp dried oregano ½ tsp fine sea salt 2 garlic cloves, peeled and
grated on a microplane ½ cup dried breadcrumbs black pepper
FOR THE SOUP
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 onion, peeled and diced 2 celery stalks, finely diced 3 large carrots, peeled and finely diced 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped ¼ tsp dried chilli flakes (optional) pinch of salt ½ tsp fresh or dried rosemary leaves, finely chopped 1.5 litres chicken stock 1 parmesan rind ½ cup dried ditalini or orzo pasta 1 head endive, leaves separated and washed, or 280g baby spinach salt and black pepper
First, make your meatball mix by combining all the ingredients and mixing well. Use a teaspoon to scoop the mix (each ball is about a heaped teaspoon’s worth, so they’re quite small). Shape into balls and line up on a baking tray or large plate and keep shaping until all the mix is used up.
Heat a large soup pot or enamel-lined Dutch oven over medium/high heat. Add the olive oil and brown the meatballs on all sides. You will need to do this in a couple of batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Remove the meatballs and set aside.
Next, add the chopped onion, celery, carrots, garlic and chilli flakes (if using). Add a good pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until the vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent (about 10-15 minutes). Add the rosemary and sizzle for a minute longer before you add the stock and parmesan rind. Bring to a simmer, then return the meatballs to the pot. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente (check the packet). When the pasta is al dente, add the endive or spinach and allow that to wilt into the soup (about 2 minutes). Discard the parmesan rind and check seasoning; adjust if necessary.
Ladle the soup into bowls and serve hot with extra grated parmesan cheese on top.
Marisa Raniolo Wilkins, All Things Sicilian and More, Post: Minestra Maritata, Date: 20/6/ 2018
Minesta in Italian means soup. But it does not stop there – minestrone is a thick soup and minestrina is a more delicate or thin soup. All minestre (plural) may or may not have pasta (or pastina) or rice or grains added to thicken them.
Then there is zuppa and this Italian word shares the common root with soupe (French), suppe (German) and sopa (Spanish and Portuguese). These days the differences between a minestra and a zuppa are probably interchangeable and there are always regional and cultural variations (as the Calabrese minestra below), but a zuppa relies on an accompaniment of a slice of bread; usually this is placed in the bowl and the zuppa is ladled on top. The bread soaks up the juice and therefore no pasta, or rice, or grains (barley, wheat) are needed. Traditionally, a zuppa has a broth base, whereas the liquid in a minesta is more likely to be water and relies on the vegetables, pulses, fish, meat (or smoked meat) for flavour. In modern times, recipes for minestra may include the addition of water, stock or broth as the liquid base .
So why am I taking such an interest in the specific Calabrese minestra?
I was recently in Adelaide and ate at Minestra, a small home style eatery in Prospect (Adelaide) and ordered minestra with my pork and veal and eggplant polpette.
The minestra in this case was presented less soupy and more like a side for the polpette, but it could also be ordered unaccompanied as a one course dish – with a little more liquid and more a like soup.
Minestra in Calabria takes on a different significance and is a traditional, peasant dish suited to the people who were used to working very hard on the land. And it does not use pasta in this dish … the Calabrese have a reputation for being different (I say this as a pun). This Calabrese minestra has a certain degree of austerity about it, it is not sophisticated or complicated and it is made from simple frugal ingredients – wild greens if possible, and if one was lucky, perhaps a little pork. It also contains beans – dried broad beans or borlotti or cannellini. Hence the description of this minestra being maritata (married in Calabrese dialect) – several green vegetables and the beans (and bits of pork) are ‘married’ or combined to produce a very thick, stew like soup. Some variations include potatoes and as for the pork, it can be fresh meat ribs or rind. I have also seen a recipe that includes the rind of grating cheese (pecorino) for flavourings.
In Calabria, as in Sicily, wild foraged greens are much appreciated and not just due to necessity (as they once were). In Australia we may not be familiar with the range of edible plants available or have access to as many, but we do have some very good, green, leafy vegetables that provide contrasting and strong flavours.
A mixture of three or four of seasonal, green, leafy vegetables, is sufficient – I am using endives (or escarole) and chicory, that are both bitter, cime di rapa (a brassica) for the mustard taste and sow thistle that was sold to me as milk thistle and tastes mild and grassy.
Endives:
Cime di Rapa, Chicory, Sow Thistle:
Wild fennel, amaranth, nettles are also wild greens that could be accessible to you or you may be growing borage in your garden.
I am going to be Italian when I write this recipe. There are no measurements for the ingredients but my photos can give you an indication and it is ‘cucina povera‘- peasant cooking – that is, use what you can get, make it to your taste, add as much liquid as you wish, but keep it thick.
Use a variety of green leafy seasonal vegetables – whatever you can get – go for combinations of taste – bitter, sweet, peppery, grassy, aniseed taste (as in fennel).
RECIPE for Minestra
Soak, cook pulses (borlotti, cannellini, dried broad beans) … or buy tinned beans if that is what you do. In my photo you will see that Ii have used black-eyed beans – this is not an Italian bean, but it is what I had on hand at the time and I do not think that my breaking of tradition mattered. Drain the pulses you intend to use. Keep the liquid (broth) in case you want to add it as the liquid for the minestra.
Clean the greens, separate them from any tough stems but keep the softer ones.
Soften the greens – boil them in as much or as little salted water as you cook all your green leafy vegetables. Drain them but reserve some liquid for the minestra. I did not have to discard any because I did not use much water to cook my greens.
Chop garlic ( I used quite a bit), sauté the drained greens, add beans. My ratio was about 2/3 greens and 1/3 beans.
Add chopped chilli at the same time as the garlic if you wish or serve chopped chilli or chilli paste separately (Calabresi a fond of pepper paste).
Add as much liquid as you wish, dish it up, drizzle some extra virgin oil on it and eat it with some good bread.
This post about Minestra Maritata was written much earlier and has more information, but mainly about the restaurant called Minestra. Unfortunately the restaurant is no longer there.
MINESTRA MARITATA, peasant soup from Calabria
Below, photo taken in Sicily and I was speaking to the gentleman collecting wild greens.
See recipe for the Sicilian Maccu – another of those peasant soups and this one has even more traditions than the Calabrese minestra.
This post has photos of wild greens in Sicily: