Minestra di Riso e Luganiga con Verza Lombarda

Ingredients

• 400 g luganiga sausage, casing removed, meat crumbled
• 600 g Savoy cabbage, outer leaves removed, inner leaves roughly torn
• 200 g Vialone Nano or Carnaroli rice
• 1.5 litres meat or vegetable broth, hot; added gradually
• 1 Parmigiano-Reggiano rind, optional; added to broth at the start
• 60 g Grana Padano, finely grated, to serve at the table
• 1 tsp fine salt, adjust only at the end

Method

1. 1
   Place a wide, heavy pot over medium-high heat and add the crumbled luganiga with no additional fat, so the sausage renders in its own grease and builds a fond on the base of the pot that will flavour the entire soup. Cook, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon, until the fat has fully rendered and the meat is deep golden in colour. The pot should smell of spiced pork fat, not steam.
2. 2
   Reduce the heat to medium and add the roughly torn Savoy cabbage leaves directly to the sausage fat, turning them to coat, so the fat carries the spiced meat flavour into every leaf rather than leaving the cabbage tasting of water. Cook without adding any liquid until the leaves are fully wilted, have turned from bright to deep green, and smell sweet rather than raw.
3. 3
   Add the Parmigiano rind now if using, pressing it down to sit against the base of the pot where the heat is greatest, so it slowly softens and bleeds its salt and aged depth into the broth throughout the cook. Ladle in enough hot broth to cover the cabbage and sausage, then bring to a gentle simmer.
4. 4
   Add the rice, stir to distribute, and continue adding hot broth in gradual additions over the course of cooking, keeping the soup thick rather than loose, so the starch released from the rice binds with the broth and gives the minestra its characteristic cloudy, porridge-like body rather than the thin clarity of a plain soup. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice is very soft and beginning to dissolve at its edges — as pulling it too early leaves the rice chalky at the centre and the broth thin. The broth should appear cloudy and starchy, not clear.
5. 5
   Remove and discard the Parmigiano rind. Taste and season with salt only now, since the luganiga will have contributed salt throughout the cooking and the full seasoning of the finished soup cannot be judged until the rice has absorbed the broth and the flavours have settled. The soup should be thick enough that a spoon drawn across the surface leaves a momentary channel.
6. 6
   Ladle into warmed bowls. Finish each portion with a tablespoon of finely grated Grana Padano at the table.