P
Italian · Molise
Zuppa di Fagioli Borlotti con Cotiche Molisana
A robust Molisan pork-and-bean soup built on dried borlotti beans slow-cooked with cotiche (pork rind) until the rinds dissolve into a gelatinous, collagen-rich broth. Soffritto of lard, onion and chilli forms the base; beans are soaked overnight and added raw to absorb the pork fat as they cook. Finished with a drizzle of local Molise olive oil.
I
The Market List
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350 g
dried borlotti beans
soaked at least 12 hours in cold water, water changed once
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
300 g
cotiche (pork rind)
scored in a cross-hatch pattern, blanched and drained
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the soffritto
40 g
lard
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 medium
onion
finely chopped
Your own market
1
dried red chilli
crumbled
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.5 litres
water
cold, to cover
Your own market
fine salt
fine salt
added in the final 20 minutes only
Your own market
30 ml
Molise extra-virgin olive oil
to finish, added off heat
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Score the cotiche in a cross-hatch pattern on the fat side. Place in a saucepan of cold water, bring to the boil and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the blanching water. The rind should feel slightly softened and the surface fat rendered enough to show no grease slick when you press it with a finger.
2
Drain the soaked borlotti and discard their soaking water. The beans should be plump and uniformly swollen, with no shrivelled specimens remaining.
3
In a large, heavy pot melt the lard over a medium-low flame. Add the chopped onion and crumbled chilli. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and the lard smells sweet and faintly nutty — not browned.
4
Add the blanched cotiche and the drained borlotti to the soffritto. Pour in enough cold water to cover by at least 5 cm. Bring the pot to the point where small bubbles rise lazily from the base — a bare simmer, never a rolling boil. This is where the dish lives or dies: a vigorous boil will burst the beans into a starchy cloud and prevent the rind from rendering into a clean, gelatinous broth. Maintain this temperature throughout.
5
Cook at a bare simmer for approximately 2 to 2½ hours, partially covered. The cotiche are ready when they yield completely to light pressure from a spoon and the broth has turned opaque and unctuous, coating the back of a ladle with a thin, gelatinous film.
6
Season with fine salt only now, in the final 20 minutes of cooking, stirring gently to distribute. Taste: the broth should be distinctly savoury and the beans buttery at the centre without losing their skins.
7
Remove the pot from the heat. Drizzle the Molise extra-virgin olive oil directly over the surface. Rest the soup, uncovered, for 30 minutes before serving. The aroma released should be fruity and grassy — evidence that the oil's volatile top notes have been preserved by the absence of further heat.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Dried borlotti from a named Molisan or Ligurian grower, harvested the previous autumn; fresh cotiche from a heritage-breed pig; single-estate Molise DOP extra-virgin olive oil from the current season.
02
Estate — Italian-origin dried borlotti within two years of harvest; cotiche sourced from a trusted butcher; a quality Molise or central-Italian extra-virgin olive oil.
03
Market — Good-quality dried borlotti from any reputable Italian brand; supermarket pork rind properly blanched; any mid-range extra-virgin olive oil with marked fruitiness.
04
House — Tinned borlotti (drained and rinsed; reduce cooking time by one hour); pork rind from any source, blanched; a standard extra-virgin olive oil used both in cooking and to finish.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The simmering surface shows only slow, lazy bubbles; no turbulence visible at any point during the long cook.
◇Sight. The finished broth is opaque and slightly viscous, with a sheen from released collagen — not greasy, not watery.
◇Touch. Cotiche pressed lightly with the back of a spoon yields without resistance, signalling full collagen conversion.
◇Touch. A bean pressed between two fingers flattens to a smooth paste — buttery and cooked through — without bursting its skin.
◇Where it lives or dies. The soup lives or dies at the moment the liquid first reaches temperature: a bare simmer preserves bean structure and allows rind collagen to melt cleanly into the broth; a rolling boil destroys both.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Sparkling wine
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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