FOOD ARCHIVES Make Luzzo’s Zuppe Bollito di Scarola e Fagioli
by Lauren Bloomberg
If your weekend plans revolve around alfresco brunching, you should go ahead and cancel your reservations. Weather reports say that it’s going to be a pretty nippy weekend. Instead, how about staying home and whipping up some soup? Read a good book. Watch Portlandia.
Coming up on their seven-year anniversary, East Village Luzzo’s is the Italian stallion of red-sauce joints. Frequented by both celebrities and mere mortals, the restaurant puts out consistently heart-warming food. Owner Michele Iuliano may be a primo pizza guy (his other restaurants include Tribeca’s Da Mikele and Ovest in Chelsea), but he also makes a damn good soup.
With richness from cannellini beans, acidity from tomatoes, and a dash of escarole to stand in as the greenery, this is one filling soup. Though figuring out the provided metric units may be a bit of a hassle (“Michele is quite Italian” is the explanation from his reps), doubling, or tripling, the recipe shouldn’t be tough. Make it for one, and eat for a week. Make it for six and invite the whole block over.
Zuppe Bollito di Scarola e Fagioli
Ingredients for 4 people
1 kg of escarole, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
200 gr of dried cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves, sliced
extra virgin olive oil
3 T tomato sauce
1 Liter vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste
Soak the beans overnight in cold water
Drain and boil until tender but firm
Brown the garlic in the olive oil. When ready, add the escarole
When the escarole has been dried of all its water, add the vegetable broth and the beans
Let boil on medium heat for 10 minutes, then add the tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and let boil for another 45 minutes
Serve hot with slices of Italian bread, toasted and rubbed with garlic