Recipe of the month Dec 2019

Italian Chickpea & Chestnut Soup Recipe

Our December recipe comes from Luciana Olimpieri who cooks at some of our villas in Umbria.

Food is one of Luciana's greatest passions and she believes the secret of Italian cuisine is keeping it simple and always using fresh ingredients. All of her dishes are prepared according to classic and traditional recipes, using seasonal ingredients mostly sourced from local suppliers. But above all, she believes that her meals are an experience and a great way to get to know her country in a fine and delicious way!

Her favorite recipe involves the use of chestnuts and is the "Chickpea and chestnut soup". This is an ancient recipe handed down for generations in her family as an important dish that was served on Christmas Eve.

Recipe for Chickpea Soup and chestnuts of Christmas Vigil

Ingredients for the soup:

• 300g of chickpeas
• 4 dried chestnuts per person
• 4 anchovy fillets
• 100g of pork fat
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• Salt to taste.
• Black pepper to season
• Extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for homemade pasta:

• 100 grams of flour
• Water (as much as needed)

PREPARATION

1. Soak 300 grams of chickpeas in water the night before, calculate a slightly larger amount if you prefer to buy them already soaked.

2. For the dough: Mix the flour with water and prepare a dough (not too thin). Allow to air dry for about an hour, then cut into squares of about 1 cm.

3. For the soup: Sauté in a pan a mixture of lard, 2 or 3 tablespoons of oil, garlic, rosemary and the chopped anchovy fillets. Then add the chickpeas, chestnuts, salt and pepper, and cover with water.

4. Leave to cook adding more water as necessary. When adding the pasta, check that there is enough water in the pan, then add the squares of homemade pasta.

5. Serve the soup as soon as possible by adding a drizzle of oil and ground pepper.

If you're feeling inspired to taste other traditional dishes from Italy, browse our collection of villas in Italy. Find out more information about our villas with a cook service, or try you hand at some more recipes on our blog.