Zuppa di Sponsali Molisana

Ingredients

• 600 g sponsali (wild spring onions or leek-onion hybrids), trimmed, cleaned, sliced into rounds; foraged March stock before flowering, or largest available cultivated spring onions
• 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus a generous thread to finish raw
• 1.2 litres pork broth, from boiled cotechino or pig trotters
• 200 g stale bread, genuinely hard-stale, not day-old; broken or sliced into chunks
• 4 eggs, one per portion, cracked in whole at the end
• 40 g Pecorino di Capracotta, dry and aged; finely grated

Method

1. 1
   Pour the olive oil into a wide, heavy pot and set over the lowest possible heat, then add the sliced sponsali, season lightly with salt, and sweat uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 to 40 minutes — the long, unhurried heat coaxes out the natural sugars and collapses the fibres so the sponsali turn jammy and deeply sweet rather than sharp and raw. The sponsali are ready when they have fallen entirely to a soft, glossy mass with no trace of bite or pungency; taste to confirm, because no later step can correct sharpness that remains here.
2. 2
   Pour the pork broth over the collapsed sponsali and bring to a gentle simmer, then cook together for 10 minutes so the broth and the alliums exchange their characters — the broth drawing out the sweetness of the sponsali, the sponsali taking on the depth of the pork. The soup should smell of pork and sweet onion in equal measure, with no raw or sharp note remaining.
3. 3
   Add the hard-stale bread chunks to the simmering soup and allow them to absorb the broth for 3 to 4 minutes — stale bread takes up liquid slowly and evenly, so the pieces swell without dissolving, giving the soup its body rather than turning it to a paste. They are ready when visibly swollen and saturated but still holding their shape as distinct pieces.
4. 4
   Reduce the heat so the soup is barely moving, then crack the eggs in one at a time, spacing them across the surface, so each egg poaches in its own still pocket of liquid rather than drifting into its neighbour and losing its shape. Poach undisturbed until the whites are just set and opaque but the yolks remain visibly liquid and trembling — this is confirmed by sight, and since an overcooked yolk cannot be retrieved.
5. 5
   Ladle into four bowls, each receiving one egg, then finish immediately with a generous thread of raw extra-virgin olive oil poured directly over the hot soup — the heat of the broth volatilises the oil's grassy, peppery compounds in an instant, releasing a sharp aromatic bloom that you should smell at once, confirming the finish is correct. Grate Pecorino di Capracotta over the top and serve.