Istrian bean soup in the old-fashioned way
While preparing the introduction to this recipe, I remembered an old anecdote, from the late 70s. Its protagonist is a well-known doctor from Umag, Mr. V. When he decided to build a house, he invited a foreman and workers and, explaining his wishes regarding the construction, offered them the esteemed Istrian prosciutto. Probably wine too, but that's less important to the story. Basically, the workers were doing their job every day, when there, after about 10 days, the doctor noticed that there was not even a "p" left of the prosciutto. The workers admitted their (in) action but defended themselves with its excellence. And the doctor, all anxious, cried out: "At least you left me a ham bone? Let's have a maneštra! ”Well, that's the catch! Prosciutto bone. Without it, Istrian maneštra, just like this wonderful soup that I tasted a long time ago in Kremenje, would not have its own specific taste.
Preparation steps
- Wash the prosciutto bone and put it to boil in cold water. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat. If necessary, add more water while cooking. When cooked (about an hour), save the water and remove (if any) the remains of the meat from the bones.
- Soak the beans the day before and boil them briefly first. Discard that first water, drain the beans and add it with the second water. Add the peeled carrots cut into several pieces, celery and onion which you have peeled and cut in half. Cook everything together until the beans and vegetables are soft.
- Mash the vegetables and place them in a separate bowl. Now add the water in which the ham bone was cooked. In order for the soup to be quite thick, half a liter of bone broth and half a liter of water will suffice. Stir well and if necessary (bone broth is salty) add salt and pepper. If there are pieces of cooked prosciutto left, add it to the soup. Heat to be hot and serve with toasted bread.
