P
Italian · Teramo
Virtù Teramane — Soup of First Fruits and Last Legumes
Virtù is the most ceremonially complex preparation in the Abruzzese kitchen — a soup made traditionally on the first of May in Teramo, combining all the winter dried legumes remaining in the pantry (borlotti, cannellini, cicerchia, lentils, chickpeas, dried favas) with the first spring vegetables (fresh peas, broad beans, young spinach, fennel, asparagus tips) and various pasta shapes, the whole enriched with a soffritto of lard, cured meats, and aromatics. The preparation is governed by tradition: it should use exactly seven types of dried legume, seven types of fresh vegetable, and seven types of pasta. The number seven is symbolic. Making virtù requires the entire day and the cooperation of multiple cooks; it is a communal ritual as much as a recipe.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
Dried legumes (seven varieties)
80 g
borlotti beans, dried
soaked overnight
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
cannellini beans, dried
soaked overnight
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
cicerchia (grass peas), dried
soaked overnight
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
lentils, dried
rinsed; no soaking required
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
chickpeas, dried
soaked overnight
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
dried fava beans
soaked overnight, skins removed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
80 g
seventh dried legume (e.g. small dried peas or roveja)
soaked overnight as required by variety
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Fresh spring vegetables (seven varieties)
150 g
fresh peas
shelled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
150 g
fresh broad beans
shelled and skinned
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
young spinach
washed, stems removed
Your own market
100 g
asparagus tips
cut to 3 cm lengths
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
fennel bulb
trimmed, thinly sliced
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
sixth fresh spring vegetable (e.g. young chard or artichoke hearts)
prepared according to variety
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
seventh fresh spring vegetable (e.g. spring onion tops or chicory)
prepared according to variety
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Pasta (seven shapes, fresh and dried)
60 g
maltagliati, fresh
rolled thin and cut irregularly
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
60 g
six further small pasta shapes (e.g. ditali, tubetti, spaghetti spezzati, farfalle, quadrucci, stelline)
a variety of shapes and sizes
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the soffritto
80 g
lard (strutto)
finely chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
100 g
guanciale
cut into small dice
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
onion
finely chopped
Your own market
2
celery stalks
finely chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
carrot
finely chopped
Your own market
2
garlic cloves
finely chopped
Your own market
1
peperoncino (dried chilli)
crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the mazzetto aromatico
1
sprig rosemary
tied into a bundle with the herbs below
Your own market
2
sage leaves
added to the bundle
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2
bay leaves
added to the bundle
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
The day before, soak all dried legumes requiring it — borlotti, cannellini, cicerchia, chickpeas, dried favas, and the seventh variety — in separate vessels of cold water overnight, keeping them apart so that each absorbs at its own rate and none takes on the colour or flavour of its neighbour. Drain and rinse each individually before cooking. The lentils require no soaking.
2
Cook each dried legume in its own pot of unsalted water — salt would tighten the skins and leave the centres chalky — with a portion of the mazzetto aromatico simmered in the cooking water. Each legume has a different cooking time: chickpeas and cicerchia are slowest, lentils fastest. Each pot is done when its legume is completely tender throughout but holds its shape; reserve all cooking liquids separately, as they carry the flavour that will later build the soup's body.
3
Cook each fresh spring vegetable separately — blanch in salted boiling water until just tender: peas and broad beans briefly (2–3 minutes), spinach until wilted, asparagus tips until a knife meets no resistance, fennel until translucent at the edges. Keeping them separate preserves each vegetable's colour and prevents the more assertive flavours from flattening the delicate ones. Remove each and reserve.
4
In a wide, heavy-bottomed pot large enough to hold the entire finished soup, melt the lard over a moderate flame, then add the guanciale and render until the fat runs and the meat begins to colour at the edges, drawing out the deep, savoury fat that will perfume the whole dish. Add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, and peperoncino and cook slowly, stirring, until the vegetables are completely soft, golden, and collapsed — the fat should run clear and fragrant. This is the base that ties everything together: it must be patient and thorough.
From the canon — Guanciale (from 'guancia' — cheek) is the cured pig's jowl that is foundational to Roman cooking — the fat used in amatriciana, carbonara, cacio e pepe's ric… Guanciale — Cured Pig's Cheek of Lazio and Abruzzo →
5
This is where the dish lives or dies. Into the soffritto pot, add the cooked dried legumes one variety at a time, each with a measure of its own cooking water, so that the distinct character of each legume enters the pot on its own terms rather than being lost in a single anonymous pour. Build the soup progressively, tasting for salt after each addition, bearing in mind that the cured meats are already heavily salted. The combined liquid should give a dense, spoonable consistency — neither a stew nor a thin broth; add the mazzetto aromatico and allow everything to unify over a low flame for at least thirty minutes, stirring with care so the legumes do not break.
6
Add the separately cooked fresh spring vegetables to the pot in order of their robustness — fennel first, then peas and broad beans, then asparagus, then spinach and any delicate greens last — so that nothing overcooks and loses its colour in the residual heat of the soup. Stir gently. The soup should show the full colour range of the season: green, ivory, and gold throughout.
7
Add the seven pasta shapes directly to the pot, beginning with the largest or thickest and adding the smallest last, so that all finish cooking together rather than the smallest shapes turning to paste while the larger ones catch up. Stir to prevent sticking; the pasta is done when it is cooked through but still offers slight resistance, at which moment the soup will have thickened further from the pasta starch. Remove and discard the mazzetto, taste once more for salt, and serve immediately from the pot.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — All seven dried legumes sourced from named Abruzzese producers — cicerchia di Serra de' Conti, roveja from the Sibillini, local borlotti. Lard rendered from a heritage-breed Abruzzese pig. Guanciale from the same animal, cured in-house. Fresh pasta made the morning of May 1st. The preparation carried out communally across an entire day, exactly as the tradition requires.
02
Estate — Dried legumes from Italian artisan producers (Slow Food Presidia where available). Commercial guanciale of reliable provenance and strutto in place of industrial lard. Fresh maltagliati made at home alongside a selection of quality dried pasta shapes. All seven fresh vegetables sourced at the seasonal market on the day.
03
Market — Four to five dried legumes from good-quality dried stock (borlotti, cannellini, chickpeas, lentils at minimum). Guanciale from a reputable salumeria; commercial lard. A mix of fresh and dried pasta shapes. Four to five fresh spring vegetables available at the market. The spirit of the preparation — separate cooking, progressive assembly — maintained in full.
04
House — Three dried legumes (borlotti, cannellini, lentils), pancetta in place of guanciale, olive oil supplementing or replacing lard. Two or three fresh spring vegetables. A single pasta shape. The dish loses its ceremonial structure but retains the principle of combining winter stores with spring produce in a pork-enriched broth.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. Each dried legume, pressed between thumb and forefinger, gives completely with no hard centre — it is done and ready for the assembly pot.
◇Smell. The soffritto is ready when the fat runs clear and the kitchen carries a deep, sweet smell of collapsed onion, rendered pork fat, and garlic — no raw sharpness remains.
◇Sight. The assembled soup shows a full spectrum of colour — the cream and ochre of the legumes, the greens of the spring vegetables — evenly distributed, the surface moving with a slow, thick simmer rather than a rapid boil.
◇Touch. A pasta shape retrieved from the pot and pressed offers slight resistance at the centre — the pasta is cooked through and the soup has thickened to a dense, spoonable body.
◇Where it lives or dies. The assembly of the dried legumes into the soffritto — each added in turn with its own cooking water, seasoning calibrated against the salt already carried by the cured meats — is the operation that determines whether the finished virtù is a unified, complex whole or a disjointed accumulation of parts.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
2023 seven stars VEGA
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Naramata Bench
Township 7 Vineyards & Winery · Penticton →Sparkling wine
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