Soupe Valpellinoise con Fontina, Verza e Pane di Segale

Ingredients

• For the beef broth
• 1 kg marrow bones, split
• 500 g oxtail, cut into sections
• 2 litres water
• 400 g stale rye bread, at least two days old, sliced
• 600 g savoy cabbage, outer leaves removed, inner leaves separated
• 350 g Fontina DOP, rind removed, thinly sliced
• 80 g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces for layering
• 1 tsp fine salt, for seasoning layers and blanching water
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning layers

Method

1. 1
   Place the marrow bones and oxtail in a large pot with the water. Bring to the boil, skim thoroughly, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook until the broth is deeply coloured, richly flavoured and properly reduced — at least 2 hours. Strain, degrease, and taste: the broth must carry all the seasoning the dish will receive. It is done when it coats the back of a spoon and the flavour is full and round.
2. 2
   Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Blanch the savoy cabbage leaves in batches for 2–3 minutes until just tender and bright green. Lift out and drain thoroughly — the leaves must release no further moisture into the assembled dish. They are done when a leaf bends without snapping and no raw bitterness remains on the tongue.
3. 3
   Heat the oven to 160 °C. Begin layering in a terracotta or oven-safe pot of roughly 2-litre capacity. Lay down the first layer of stale rye bread slices to cover the base completely. Arrange blanched cabbage leaves over the bread. Distribute thin slices of Fontina generously across the cabbage. Dot with butter and season with salt and pepper. Repeat for 3–4 complete layers, finishing with a layer of bread topped with Fontina and butter. This is where the dish lives or dies: each layer must be built with equal generosity — bread thick enough to absorb without dissolving, cabbage covering every section of bread, and Fontina appearing throughout in quantity sufficient to melt into long elastic strands, not merely to flavour the surface.
4. 4
   Ladle the hot beef broth slowly and evenly over the assembled layers until the liquid just reaches the top of the bread but does not submerge it. Allow 30 seconds for the bread to begin absorbing before adding a final ladle if required. The broth level is correct when the uppermost bread layer is moistened but the top surface of Fontina remains visible and dry.
5. 5
   Place the pot uncovered in the centre of the oven. Bake for 45–60 minutes. The soupe is done when the top surface is deeply golden and lightly crusted, the bread has absorbed all visible liquid, and a skewer inserted to the centre meets no resistance — the interior is a unified, yielding mass. The kitchen will smell of toasted rye and melted cheese.
6. 6
   Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes. Serve directly from the baking vessel by the ladleful. The interior should pull into long strands of Fontina as the ladle lifts each portion.