Minestra di Ceci e CastagneChickpea and Chestnut Soup

Soak the chickpeas and dried chestnuts separately for 12 hours

• 1 MeanwhileDuring the 12-hour soak, change the chestnut water once if it becomes cloudy, and weigh the chestnuts down with a plate or similar so they stay submerged.
• 2 Spread 180 g dried chickpeas in a bowl and remove broken or discolored chickpeas and small stones.
• 3 Put 1000 ml water in another bowl and dissolve 2 g baking soda completely.
• 4 Submerge the chickpeas in the baking soda water, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a dark place at room temperature for 12 hours.
• 5 Put 120 g dried chestnuts and 600 ml water in another bowl and likewise leave in a dark place at room temperature for 12 hours.

Finish preparing the chickpeas and chestnuts and chop the aromatics

• 1 Drain the chickpeas in a colander, rinse thoroughly under running water until the slippery baking soda residue is gone, and drain well.
• 2 Drain the chestnuts and discard their soaking liquid. Inspect them 1 by 1 and use the tip of a knife to scrape off any remaining inner skin or darkened areas.
• 3 Break large chestnuts in half so all the pieces are about 2 cm.
• 4 Cut 60 g red onion into 5 mm dice.
• 5 Crush and peel 1 garlic clove with the flat of a knife; reserve the other 1 unpeeled for the finishing bread.
• 6 Put 80 g canned peeled tomatoes in a bowl and crush finely by hand.
• 7 Rinse 1 rosemary sprig, 2 sage leaves and 1 bay leaf and pat dry. Keep the sprig and leaves whole, ready for simmering.

Build the soffritto and reduce the tomatoes

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the onion cooks, start bringing 1200 ml water to a boil in another saucepan or kettle.
• 2 Put 30 ml extra virgin olive oil in a heavy saucepan, add 1 crushed garlic clove over low heat and warm for 2–3 minutes until fragrant.
• 3 Add 60 g red onion and cook over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until translucent and soft without browning. This makes the soffritto, a base of aromatics slowly cooked in oil.
• 4 Add 2 sage leaves, 1 bay leaf and 1 rosemary sprig and cook over low heat for 1 minute to infuse the oil.
• 5 Add 80 g crushed peeled tomatoes and cook over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until the moisture evaporates and the oil begins to separate from the tomato.

Combine chickpeas and chestnuts, bring to a boil and skim

• 1 Add the drained chickpeas and prepared chestnuts to the soffritto. Turn with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes to coat them in the oil and aromatics.
• 2 Pour in the 1200 ml prepared boiling water, raise the heat to high and bring the surface to a boil.
• 3 Skim off and discard the white foamy scum with a ladle 3–4 times.

Simmer very gently for 90 minutes to soften the chickpeas and chestnuts

• 1 MeanwhileWhile simmering, check whether rosemary leaves have fallen from the sprig and scattered. If only the bare stem remains, remove it with cooking chopsticks.
• 2 Leave the lid slightly ajar and simmer over very low heat for 90 minutes, with only an occasional bubble breaking the surface.
• 3 Every 30 minutes, stir gently from the bottom with a wooden spoon and check for sticking.
• 4 If the liquid falls below the ingredients, add boiling water in 100 ml increments, up to 300 ml in total, keeping the ingredients covered by 2 cm of liquid.

Add salt and mash a portion to thicken the broth

• 1 MeanwhileDuring the 30-minute simmer, cut 2 slices of unsweetened country bread 1.5 cm thick and halve 1 unpeeled garlic clove ready for use.
• 2 Remove and discard the 1 bay leaf, rosemary sprig and sage leaves with cooking chopsticks.
• 3 Add 9 g salt and stir throughout with a wooden spoon to dissolve it.
• 4 Ladle 1/3 of the chickpeas and chestnuts into a separate bowl, roughly crush with a fork or masher and return to the pot.
• 5 Simmer uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes to thicken, stirring every 5–8 minutes and scraping along the bottom.

Pour over toasted bread and finish with raw oil and black pepper

• 1 MeanwhileWhile the bread toasts, reheat the soup over low heat and keep it steaming.
• 2 Fill 2 deep plates 8/10 full with boiling water and leave for 1 minute. Empty and dry with a cloth to warm the plates.
• 3 Toast 2 slices of unsweetened country bread in a dry frying pan or on a grill over medium heat for 1.5–2 minutes on each side, until browned.
• 4 While hot, rub the entire surface of 1 side of each slice with the cut face of the halved unpeeled garlic.
• 5 Place 1 bread slice in each warmed deep plate.
• 6 Gently ladle the soup from the pot, dividing it evenly between the plates until the bread is completely covered.
• 7 Divide 15 ml extra virgin olive oil between the 2 plates, drizzling it in circles.
• 8 Coarsely grind 1/2 tsp black pepper and sprinkle over the 2 plates.
• 9 Leave in the plates for 3 minutes to let the bread absorb the soup.