Minestra di Farro e Fagioli Molisana — Farro and Bean Soup

Ingredients

• 300 g borlotti or cannellini beans, dried, soaked overnight in cold water
• 200 g whole farro (farro intero), soaked 4 hours in cold water; use pearled farro soaked 1 hour if whole unavailable
• 100 g guanciale or lard rind, cut into small pieces
• For the soffritto
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves stripped and finely chopped
• 4 leaves sage, whole or roughly torn
• 1 Parmesan rind, optional; added to the simmering broth
• 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, raw, for finishing
• to taste fine sea salt

Method

1. 1
   Drain the soaked beans. Drain the soaked farro. Keep both separately to one side. Have cold water ready at the stove.
2. 2
   Place the guanciale or lard rind in a heavy pot over a medium flame. Add the chopped onion, rosemary, and sage. Cook the soffritto, stirring frequently, until it is deeply golden — not merely softened. This is where the dish lives or dies: a pale or undercooked soffritto will produce a flat, insipid broth that no later adjustment can correct. The fat should be fully rendered and the onion a deep amber.
3. 3
   Add the drained beans to the pot. Cover with cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 45 minutes. If using a Parmesan rind, add it now. The beans should be approaching tenderness but not yet fully yielding.
4. 4
   Add the drained farro to the pot. Continue cooking over a steady simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Do not add the farro earlier — it requires this window precisely; added with the beans it will overcook and lose its characteristic nutty tooth. The farro is done when each grain is tender but still distinct, offering a slight resistance at the centre.
5. 5
   Remove approximately one quarter of the beans. Pass them through a mouli or mash them and return the purée to the pot. Stir to integrate. The broth should thicken to a consistency that supports the back of a spoon — thick enough to stand a spoon upright. Add small measures of water if needed, but the soup must remain dense.
6. 6
   Season generously with sea salt. Ladle into bowls and finish each portion with a thread of raw extra-virgin olive oil poured directly at the table.