Polentina Alla Toscana is made with a base of chicken broth, for which you may find a separate post on Cooking the Kitchen, with the recipe for making the chicken broth. This soup is also made with a little polenta. The polenta serves to thicken the soup, in a slight way, just enough to make the broth feel more substantial and hearty. Lastly, the soup is finished with the deep green of some lacinato kale, which is sautéed before adding it as a garnish to the soup.
Steps to making Polentina Alla Toscana, a traditional Tuscan Soup....
Besides advising you to make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, before preparing your mise en place, I should add that you should also play some good music in the background, or listen to a podcast. I listened to a podcast from WNYC's "Here's The Thing," an interview show hosted by Alec Baldwin. This episode was called "Michael Pollan Tried to Blow Up a Woodchuck." The crux of the story was that Michael Pollan nearly blew up himself, when, as a last ditch attempt to get rid of woodchucks in his garden, he poured gasoline down one of the holes and lit a match to it. Being that fire requires oxygen, the fire did not go down into the hole, but shot up out of the woodchuck tunnel, like a spaceship launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Pollan had an epiphany at that point, and realized he needed to start to learn how to live with nature. His story made me think my summers spent on Sackett Lake, outside of Monticello, New York, in the Catskills. We had a lot of woodchucks with elaborate tunnels throughout our land, and my father tried all sorts of ways, as had Pollan, to get rid of the woodchucks. Once when I was in a rowboat on the lake, close to our dock, I saw one of the woodchucks slide out of one of the tunnels, right into the water of the lake. It was like watching a baseball player, slide into home base, to make the winning score in a tied game, that had gone into overtime.
Prepare your mise en place for your polentina all toscana....
And then start cooking....
These instructions are from the cookbook, "One Good Dish," by David Tanis.
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat, in a heavy pot. Then add the onion, carrots, celery, and fennel, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for five or so minutes, until barely softened. Add the bay leaf and cook for two minutes.
Add the polenta, stirring to distribute it, and raise the heat to high. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and allow the soup to simmer for about an hour; the broth should be just slightly thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Meanwhile, wash and roughly chop the kale. Drain in a colander but do not dry. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a wide skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the greens, stirring as they begin to wilt. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the greens are tender, about 5-minutes more. Set aside.
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with kale. Sprinkle with chopped rosemary and drizzle with olive oil.
And other things in the garden, besides a bowl of Polentina Alla Toscana....
Polentina Alla Toscana, a Tuscan soup.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
- 1 large onion diced
- ½ pound carrots peeled and diced
- 4 celery stalks diced
- 1 large fennel bulb trimmed and diced
- salt and pepper
- 1 medium leek trimmed and cut into ½-inch squares
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup polenta
- 6 cups chicken broth
- ½ pound kale preferably Tuscan
- ½ teaspoon grated or finely chopped garlic
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Leaves from 1 rosemary sprig
Instructions
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In a heavy pot, het 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and fennel, season generous with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or so, until barely softened. Add the leek and bay leaf and cook for 2 minutes.
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Add the polenta, stirring to distribute it, and raise the heat to high. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and allow the soup to simmer for about an hour; the broth should be just slightly thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
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Meanwhile, wash and roughly chop the kale. Drain in a colander but do not dry. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a wide skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the greens, stirring as they begin twilit. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the greens are tender, about 5 minutes more. Set aside.
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To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the kale. Sprinkle with the chopped rosemary (finely chop it at the last minute), and drizzle with more olive oil if desired.
