Zuppa lenticchie e cavolo nero - Lentil and Cavolo Nero Soup

‘How do you create your recipes?’ people often ask me. ‘Never from scratch’, is my answer. The Italian kitchen shapes my taste and gives me the basics, while my curiosity broadens my repertoire. Different sources inspire my new recipes, such as tradition and contemporary trends, memories and practice, friends’ tips and stories, social networks and television, food magazines and books.
I like to play with ingredients, but without loosing the Italian taste. I feel lost and illiterate outside my own boundaries.

Here, for instance, I create a soup by combining the two gastronomic traditions I was brought up with: the Milanese and the North Tuscan. In fact, Lentil and Spinach is one of the most popular soups from Milan, whereas  cavolo nero is the main ingredient of Ribollita, the famous Tuscan soup.

I choose three kinds of lentils, brown, green and red, to enrich texture and flavour.

I sauté the ingredients in oil for few minutes before adding the stock. That gives extra taste to the soup.


Zuppa lenticchie e cavolo nero
Lentil and Cavolo Nero Soup

100 g small brown lentils from Umbria
100 g green lentils
100 g red lentils

2 onions, trimmed, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped
100 g small potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 bay leaves
250 g cavolo nero, washed and shredded
1 L vegetable stock
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Sea salt and black pepper
Extra virgin oil

Serves 5
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes 

1. In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté onions, carrots, celery and potatoes with a pinch of salt for 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.

2. Stir in lentils and tomato puree and cook for another 2 minutes.

3. Pour in the stock and bring it to the boil; add bay leaves and leave to simmer for 20 minutes, covered.

4. Add cavolo nero and cook for another 20 minutes, covered.

5. Leave to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.

6. Serve with a generous drizzle of olive oil.