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The working recipe — the Market List, the Method, and where it lives or dies
I
Origin
Marche
II
Description
A simple mountain soup from the Apennine hillside villages of the Marche — wild chicory (cicoria selvatica) and dandelion greens gathered in spring, blanched and simmered in a pork broth with garlic and peperoncino, then finished with a generous spoonful of fresh ricotta dropped into each bowl. The ricotta softens in the hot soup but doesn't fully dissolve, creating a creamy marble effect.
III
The Thread
—Wild chicory with fresh ricotta — the Roman side dish version uses the same bitter green-and-dairy pairing but serves it dry rather than in broth Roman
—Wild bitter greens blanched and served warm with oil and lemon — the Greek minimalist version without the pork broth or ricotta Greek
—Greens soup with pork fat base — the Portuguese version uses kale rather than chicory; same bitter-green-in-pork-broth structure Portuguese
IV
Flavour Context
Bitter, porky, clean; the ricotta's milky sweetness cuts through the bitterness and the pork broth's richness; peperoncino adds subtle warmth — spring food of extraordinary healthfulness and flavour
Pillars V — VII
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