Massarosa
Massarosa is a small town about an hour West of Florence in the province of Lucca. It counts just over 20 000 inhabitants, only one of which we know, speaks some English. This is our home for the month of July. Needless to say, we’ve been learning Italian, at least the essentials.
Novelty for most
The people here are friendly and patient with us foreigners. We seem to be a sort of novelty for most, the Canadians who live above the shop on via Novembre. Their stares are usually diffused by a smile or a greeting of “ciao” or “buon giorno”.
Weekly market
It’s a quaint but busy town in Tuscany and like most towns here, they have a weekly market. Our first impression of the Massarosa market, arriving from via Nuova was that we had happened upon a New York street fair. People peddling everything from shampoo and cosmetics to pashminas and underwear.
Porchetta, prosciutto and fried polenta
Once we rounded the corner, the next aisle was filled with stalls selling local produce, fresh porcini, zucchini, borlotti beans and locally produced honey. Rosticcerias, I counted three in this small market, selling porchetta, prosciutto and fried polenta. This was what we were expecting.
In season
Don’t try to find broccoli at a market or supermarket in Italy in July. They’ll be quick to tell you, broccoli comes in September. They eat in season here, something that is lost on us “Americans” who eat strawberries and watermelon in the dead of winter.
Ribollita
Tim had been wanting to make ribollita (literally meaning re-boiled), a typical vegetarian Tuscan soup made with cabbage, beans, bread and lots of other vegetables.
Soup in July
July may not be a soup month in Italy, with temperatures hitting above 35 Celcius but he was determined and after our market run, we had all the ingredients. A Canadian-Italian woman we know swears that eating this soup once a week will keep you healthy all year long.
- 1 large leek, halved, washed and chopped
- 4 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 small zucchini, diced
- 1 1/2 cups borlotti beans, cooked, or 1 can cannelloni beans
- 1 large can San Marzano tomatoes
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled, halved and sliced 3/8″ thick
- 1/2 medium Savoy cabbage, shredded
- 1/2 loaf day old bread, sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 branch fresh rosemary
- 1 1/2 Tbsp dry oregano
- 6-8 cups vegetable stock, chicken stock or water
- salt and pepper
- In a large pot, sweat the leek, carrot, celery, garlic and zucchini in 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil until they are soft.
- Add the tomatoes, potatoes, beans and enough stock to cover by 2 inches.
- Add the herbs and cook on a low simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the cabbage and more stock or water if needed.
- Cook for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
- When the soup is done, you will be able to easily crush the potatoes against the side of the pot.
- Remove from heat.
- In a separate large pot or crock, place a layer of bread in the bottom and drizzle liberally with extra virgin olive oil.
- Ladle about 1/3 of the soup over the bread.
- Continue layering until all the bread is used, about 3 layers.
- Let cool and refrigerate for a day.
- To serve, spoon out as much soup as needed.
- “ribollita” with a little more water to achieve the consistency wanted.
- Check for seasoning and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and parmagiano on top.
- This soup freezes well and tastes better after a couple of days in the refrigerator.
Hi!
I have loved every single word of this post! I’m from Massarosa and I work for the Tuscany tourism board as part of the social media team. So now you can say there are at least 2 “massarosesi” speaking Enlish 😉
Thanks Serena! We’ll have to let you know next time we’re in town 🙂
I love hearty soups!!! And I agree, there’s something about a good home-style soup that makes me feel better. I’m bookmarking this one to make myself 🙂