Perhaps until the beginning of this century, there came always, in the severe mountains of the Abruzzo, a haunting desperation with the first days of May. Bankrupt of the thin stores conserved to abide the incompassionate winter—their handkerchief-sized patches of earth sown a few weeks before—the contadini (farmers) waited then for the land to give up its first nourishment. Often it came too late and many died. And even as time brought more mercy, these terrible days were remembered, the pain of them soothed by a simple ritual. The story says that on the first of May, sette fanciulle virtuose—seven young virgins— went from house to house in a village in the Marsica, the area that suffered most in the past, and begged whatever handful of the winter food that might remain in the larders. And, then, in the town’s square over a great fire in a cauldron, the fanciulle prepared a beautiful pottage to share with all the villagers, to bring them together, to warm them, to keep them safe. The potion was known as la virtù—the virtue. The soup is still made, ritualistically, faithfully, each first of May in many parts of the Abruzzo—most especially in the environs of Teramo, as well as in the Marsica—now more extravagantly, brightening the humble dried beans with spring’s new harvests. Employing even a handful or so of all the ingredients results in a great potful of the soup, assigning it thus as a festival dish. On some sweet day in May, invite twenty-nine or so good people and make the soup for them. The tail of a pig and one of his ears, though they are traditional to the soup, seem optional to me.
Ingredients
serves 30 (yes, 30)
Step 1
Rinse, searching for stones and such, each variety of legume, then soak them in separate bowls of cold water overnight. Drain the legumes and cook each variety in its own pot of simmering, sea-salted water until they are al dente. As each of the legumes is cooked and drained, place them together in a large holding bowl.
Step 2
In the house’s largest soup pot (or one purloined from a restaurant just for the festival), heat the prosciutto and pancetta in 1/2 cup of the olive oil and sauté the onions, celery, fennel, leeks, and parsley, sautéing the aromatics until transparent without coloring them. Add the spring peas, the fresh fava beans, the potatoes, carrots, and artichokes, rolling the vegetables about in the scented fat. Add the tomatoes and about 6 1/4 quarts of water to the pot with 2 tablespoons of the sea salt and bring to a simmer, cooking the vegetables gently over a medium flame for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are nearly soft. Add the mixture of cooked legumes to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the shredded greens, the herbs, and the cloves. Gently simmer the soup for 5 to 7 minutes more to soften the greens and the herbs.
Step 3
Cover the pot and permit the soup to rest while you cook the pasta in abundant boiling, sea-salted water just to al dente. Drain the pasta and add to the pot, stirring it in well and bringing the soup once again to a quiet simmer for several minutes.
Step 4
Though the soup should be thick, some liquids should remain. If necessary, thin the soup with a bit of stock or water. Taste the soup for salt, adding a bit more if you think it necessary. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls or into several tureens and serve it with threads of good, green oil and generous dustings of pecorino.
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