Medium
4 people
45 min
Danilo Cortellini
Ingredients
- 80 g piece of Grana Padano Rind
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 150 g of spelt
- 300 g of broad beans (of the pod, frozen works well too)
- 2 l of vegetable stock (or water)
- 1 small bunch of fresh basil
- 1 small red chili (optional)
- 8 spring onions, well washed
- 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
Blanch the broad beans in salted boiling water for 2 minutes and cool them down in iced water to retain the colour. If you have the time and patience, remove the skin from the broad beans for an optimal result, but don’t worry if you don’t as they work well anyway, they might be just a little bit tougher, but still delicious. If you have used fresh broad beans, the pod can be used for the stock.
Sweat the chopped onion in a casserole pan on low heat with the olive oil, some chopped chili (to taste) and a pinch of salt. Once soft and lightly golden, add the spelt and toast it like a risotto for a couple of minutes. Now add half of the stock and the Grana Padano rind and simmer the spelt for about 15 minutes or the suggested cooking time of the spelt package. Add the stock accordingly to the cooking time, the longer it cooks, the more liquid you will need to add to it the consistency of soup.
Halfway through the spelt cooking time, dress the spring onions with a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil and roast them quickly on a griddle pan for 2 minutes on each side. Now chop them roughly and add them to the soup. This is a step to add an extra layer of flavour, if you prefer to keep it easier, simply chop the spring onions and add.
