Year of the Bean

Marcella Hazan has a great recipe for a traditional Trieste soup, La Jota in her Essentials of Italian Cuisine. This is a slightly altered and simplified version, subbing in white beans for cranberry beans and omitting the salt pork pesta that is used to finish it traditionally (also with a bit less bacon – it is pretty pork-heavy even as is!). It’s a hearty and tasty soup, great for a whole meal as the weather gets colder.

Ingredients

• 200g dry cannellini beans
• 450g sauerkraut
• 400g ham hock
• 2 strips bacon, sliced into 1/2″ pieces
• one potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2″ pieces
• 3 tbsp. coarse cornmeal
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• salt

Procedure

1. Soak beans, then cook in cooking liquid and enough water to cover by 2″; raise to boil and boil for 10 minutes, and cook until soft, then adding salt to taste; set aside with preserving liquid
2. In one pot, cook bacon for 2-3 minutes on medium heat; add sauerkraut, cover, and turn heat to low; cook for an hour
3. In other pot at the same time, cover potato and ham hock with 2″ of water and cover; raise to a boil and cook for an hour on a steady but not high boil
4. After the ham hock has cooked for an hour, remove from pot and slice into 1/2″ pieces; put back in the pot, add the beans, and cook on a simmer for another 30 minutes
5. Add the sauerkraut and cook for another hour at a slow steady simmer
6. Add the cornmeal in a thin stream, stirring as you go; add 2 cups water, cover again, and continue to cook at a slow steady simmer
7. Let the soup cool, and refrigerate for a day or two; reheat and serve with nice crusty bread! You can also make this soup in steps, as it does take a while and benefits from time to sit and combine.