Zuppa di Fagioli e Cotiche — Bean and Pork Rind Soup (Molise)

Ingredients

• 300 g dried borlotti or cannellini beans, soaked overnight in cold water, drained
• 400 g fresh pork rinds (cotiche), blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes, excess fat removed, cut into 3–4 cm strips
• 80 g pancetta or a piece of pork lard, left whole or in one piece
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 200 g chopped tomatoes, tinned or fresh, roughly chopped
• 30 ml lard or extra-virgin olive oil, for softening the vegetables
• 1.2 litres water or light stock, enough to cover generously
• 1 sprig of rosemary, added in the last 30 minutes
• to taste fine sea salt, added with restraint; pork rinds and pancetta contribute substantial salt during cooking
• To finish
• 30 ml extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling at the table
• To serve
• 4 thick slices rough country bread

Method

1. 1
   Bring a large pot of unsalted water to a full boil. Add the pork rind strips and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the water. The rinds should be visibly defatted and firm; any grey foam that has risen confirms excess lard has been removed.
2. 2
   Warm the lard or olive oil in a heavy pot over a medium flame. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Soften slowly, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are translucent and yielding — 8 to 10 minutes. They should not colour.
3. 3
   Add the drained soaked beans, the blanched cotiche strips, and the piece of pancetta or pork lard to the pot. Stir to combine with the softened vegetables.
4. 4
   Add the chopped tomatoes and pour over the water or light stock until everything is generously covered. Season lightly with salt — the pork and pancetta will release further salt throughout cooking. Bring to the barest simmer.
5. 5
   This is where the dish lives or dies: maintain the most gentle simmer possible — the surface should tremble, not boil — for 2 to 2.5 hours. A rolling boil will fracture the beans and deny the cotiche the sustained, low heat they need to surrender their collagen. At the 2-hour mark, press a bean against the side of the pot; it must yield completely with no chalky resistance, and a strip of cotiche, when lifted and pressed between two fingers, must feel soft, slippery, and gelatinous rather than rubbery or fibrous.
6. 6
   Add the sprig of rosemary in the last 30 minutes of cooking. Remove and discard it before serving; its fragrance should be present but not dominant in the finished soup.
7. 7
   Remove the pancetta piece. Adjust the salt with care. The soup should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and leave a clean trail when a finger is drawn across it — neither a thin broth nor a stiff purée. Ladle into bowls, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, and serve immediately with rough country bread.