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1
Drain the soaked cicerchie and place them in a pot with the smoked pork bone and enough cold water to cover generously. Bring to a boil, skim, then reduce to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 90–120 minutes, replenishing water as needed. The cicerchie are done when they yield completely to pressure between two fingers with no chalky resistance at the centre.
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2
Place the guanciale lardons in a cold wide pan and set over medium heat. Render slowly until the fat runs freely and the lardons are crisp and amber. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and reserve. Leave all rendered fat in the pan — this is where the dish lives or dies: discard none of it, for it is the defining base of the soffritto and cannot be replicated by any other fat.
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3
In the guanciale fat over medium heat, sauté the onion, garlic, and celery until soft and translucent. Add the crumbled peperoncino and the wild herb sprig and stir for one minute. The fat should be fragrant with chilli and aromatic — a sharp, forward heat on the nose signals the peperoncino has bloomed fully into the fat.
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4
Add the farro to the soffritto pan and stir to coat each grain in the seasoned fat. Toast for 2 minutes over medium heat until the grains smell nutty and slightly roasted — a dry, grain-bakery scent distinct from the raw cereal smell at the start.
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5
Transfer the cooked cicerchie with their cooking liquid into the soffritto pan, removing the pork bone. Bring to a simmer. Add the toasted farro. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water if the soup tightens beyond a dense, porridge-like consistency. At the end of 30 minutes, taste a grain of farro: it should be tender throughout but retain a slight, definite resistance at the core — not soft, not hard.
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6
Discard the herb sprig. Stir in the reserved crisp guanciale lardons. Adjust salt. Ladle into warmed bowls. The surface of the soup should be dense enough that a spoon drawn across it leaves a momentary channel before the soup closes back — the correct mountain-soup consistency.