Alma’s Cooked Water Soup

Name: Alma’s Cooked Water Soup
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 2 pounds Swiss chard; 1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup); 2 celery stalks, trimmed, peeled, and cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 cups); 1/3 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves; 8 fresh basil leaves; 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon peperoncino flakes, or to taste; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 9 cups water; 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste; 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste; 1 egg; 1/2 slice day-old country bread, or 3 or 4 large croutons; Freshly grated pecorino to taste; A food processor; A heavy-bottomed saucepan or soup pot, 5-or 6-quart capacity, with a cover; A skillet or sauté pan, 3-inch sides or deeper, with a cover, for poaching eggs

December 14, 2011

Acquacotta literally means “cooked water,” a traditional term for a soup of just a few ingredients cooked in boiling water. But the pale name in no way reflects the savor and satisfaction of this vegetable soup. It has great depth of flavor, and when served Alma’s way, with a poached egg and country bread in the bowl, it is a complete meal. In country fashion, Alma cracks a raw egg right into each portion of hot soup and inverts another bowl on top, as a cover. You have to wait (mouth watering) for a minute or two before removing the top bowl, to find a beautifully cooked egg. Here I transfer the soup to a skillet and poach the eggs over low heat, to be sure they have cooked thoroughly. Since this soup is so quick, inexpensive, and nourishing, local women would make it often, especially when extra farmhands came to help to harvest the grapes and olives and to work the land.

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