Teramo, Abruzzo — virtù is the most celebrated local preparation of the Teramo province, made annually on May 1st (the traditional start of the pastoral summer season). The preparation is an Abruzzese tradition documented from the 18th century. The seven-times-seven structure reflects pre-Christian numerical symbolism incorporated into the agricultural calendar.
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.
Virtù in the bowl is the full complexity of the Abruzzese pantry and garden assembled: the dried legumes provide the earthy body; the fresh spring vegetables bring sweetness and colour; the pasta adds body; the soffritto di lardo ties everything together with savoury richness. It is not subtle — it is generous, assertive, and enormously satisfying. To eat virtù on May 1st in Teramo is to participate in something that has not changed for centuries.
The logistical challenge: cook each dried legume separately (they have different cooking times). Cook each fresh vegetable separately. Prepare the fresh pasta (maltagliati and other small shapes). Make a complex soffritto base with lard, guanciale, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, peperoncino. Combine all elements progressively in a large pot — dried legumes first (with their cooking water), then fresh vegetables, then pasta. The finished virtù should be thick, varied in texture, and rich from the pork fat base. Season carefully — the cured meats provide significant salt.
Virtù is genuinely a day's work for a group of cooks — it is not a weeknight preparation. However, the principle (combining last winter's dried stores with first spring's fresh produce) can inspire a simpler personal version: even four dried legumes and four fresh vegetables with pasta, properly made, captures the spirit. The mazzetto (bundle) of aromatics (rosemary, sage, bay, mint) simmered in the legume water adds complexity.
Combining all elements without separate pre-cooking — each component must be cooked to the correct doneness before combining; dumping everything raw into one pot is not virtù. Making it too thick or too liquid — virtù should be a dense, spoonable soup, not a stew and not a thin broth. Ignoring the ceremonial timing — virtù is a May 1st preparation; its meaning is the union of the old year's stores with the new season's first produce.
Anna Gosetti della Salda, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane; Slow Food Editore, Abruzzo in Cucina