AI-generated image
Acquacotta maremmana
Vegetable soup with poached egg
Acquacotta: the Maremma's 'cooked water' vegetable soup with a poached egg on bread
Acquacotta, literally 'cooked water', is what the butteri, the cattle herders of the Tuscan Maremma, and charcoal burners made from whatever they carried: onions, a few vegetables, stale bread and, on a good day, an egg. Around Grosseto and the hills of Monte Amiata it is still a family supper in autumn and spring, ladled over toasted bread with an egg poached right in the soup. Slow-cooked onion makes it sweet and deep, the egg yolk runs into the broth and the bread turns soft and spoonable. Chef's tip: give the onions a full 20 minutes; the soup is only as good as their sweetness.
- Total time
- 55 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the soup
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 red onionsthinly sliced
- 2 celery stickswith leaves, chopped
- 1 carrotdiced
- 1 pinch dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 14 oz ripe tomatoespeeled and chopped, or tinned
- 7 oz Swiss chard or other leafy greensshredded
- 4 ¼ cups hot water or light vegetable stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 leaves fresh basil (optional)
To serve
- 4 slices stale Tuscan breadthick
- 4 eggsvery fresh
- 1 ⅜ oz Pecorino Toscanograted; usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if you prefer
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Warm 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a wide, deep pan over a low heat. Add 3 red onions, 2 celery sticks and 1 carrot with a pinch of the salt and cook slowly, stirring now and then, for 20 minutes until the onions are soft and golden.
20 minStep 2: Add 1 pinch dried chilli flakes and 14 oz ripe tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, until they break down.
5 minStep 3: Pour in 4 ¼ cups hot water or light vegetable stock, add 7 oz Swiss chard or other leafy greens and the rest of 1 tsp salt and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Tear in 6 leaves fresh basil.
10 minStep 4: Toast 4 slices stale Tuscan bread until crisp and put a slice in each warm soup bowl.
Step 5: Keep the soup at a bare simmer and crack 4 eggs in one at a time, spaced apart. Cover and cook for 3–4 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft. Common mistake: a rolling boil; the eggs break up into rags.
4 minStep 6: Lift one egg onto each slice of bread with a ladle, pour the soup around and finish with 1 ⅜ oz Pecorino Toscano.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 15 g
- Carbs
- 33 g
- Fat
- 19 g
- Fibre
- 6 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does acquacotta maremmana take?
- About 55 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- What can I use instead of extra-virgin olive oil?
- Vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed oil, same amount (for cooking; keep olive oil for dressings if you have a little).
- What can I use instead of red onions?
- White onion or shallots, same amount (soak raw onion in cold water for 10 minutes to soften it).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Boiled pasta
The basic method for any dried pasta, from penne to spaghetti. A large pan of salted boiling water keeps the pasta from sticking, and you cook it only until just done, with a little bite left. Use it in salads, bakes or with any sauce.
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino