Tria and Chickpea Soup (Minestra di Tria e Ceci)

La storia di questo piatto

In the Salento, at the heel of Italy, ciceri e tria is a dish of old poverty made noble: chickpeas and durum-wheat pasta, one half softened in the pot, the other half fried until it shatters. Its medieval roots speak of a land where bread, pulses and oil were the whole of the table, and nothing was wasted.

Ingredienti

• 300 g Dried chickpeas
• 250 g Durum wheat flour (about 170 g for the boiled tria and 80 g for the fried tria)
• 120 ml Lukewarm water for the dough (about 80 ml for the boiled portion and 40 ml for the fried portion)
• 12 g Fine salt (5 g for the chickpeas, 5 g for the dough, 2 g for the fried tria)
• 100 ml Extra virgin olive oil (45 ml for the soffritto, the rest to finish the bowls)
• 1 piece Onion
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 150 g Peeled tomatoes
• 1000 ml Chickpea cooking water (or vegetable broth)
• 2 g Black pepper
• 500 ml Peanut or sunflower seed oil for frying (in a small, deep pot)
• 2 leaves Bay leaves
• 30 g Durum wheat flour for dusting the table and tray

Preparazione

1. The day before, place the dried chickpeas in a bowl and cover them completely with cold water. Leave them to soak for 12 hours (or overnight): this time is excluded from the preparation time. They will double in volume and the skins will begin to loosen slightly. Drain the chickpeas in a colander and rinse them under running water until the water runs clear. Transfer them to a pot, cover with cold water (about 1.5 liters), add 1 bay leaf and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat so they simmer gently (small bubbles rising slowly), adjust with 5 g of salt towards the end of cooking, and cook for about 90 minutes. To check if they are ready, squeeze a chickpea between your thumb and index finger: it should yield easily without falling apart. Do not discard the cooking water: drain the chickpeas, reserving at least 1 liter of their liquid, which will be the creamy base of the soup, and remove the bay leaf.
2. While the chickpeas cook, prepare the tria. Pour the durum wheat flour (250 g) into a bowl and add 5 g of salt, mixing with your fingers. Make a well in the center and pour in 120 ml of lukewarm water little by little, mixing with your fingers and drawing the flour from the edge toward the center, until a rough dough forms. Transfer everything to the table and knead with your hands for 8-10 minutes: push forward with the palm, fold toward you, rotate a quarter turn and repeat. The dough of semolina and water alone should be compact, smooth and fairly firm, not sticky (if it still sticks, add a little flour at a time). Form a ball, place it in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes, sheltered from drafts.
3. Lightly dust the table with some of the extra flour. Divide the dough into two parts: about one third (corresponding to 80 g of flour) will be for the fried tria, and the remaining two thirds (about 170 g of flour) for the boiled tria in the soup. Roll out each part with a rolling pin, from the center toward the edges, rotating the dough to keep it circular, to a thickness of about 2-3 millimeters, without seeking the transparency of an egg pasta sheet: the tria should remain rustic and substantial. If the dough tends to shrink back, let it rest 10 minutes covered, then continue. Let the sheets dry for 10 minutes, then with a sharp knife cut irregular strips about 1-1.5 cm wide and of varying length, like rustic tagliatelle. Arrange the strips on a floured tray, separating them slightly, keeping those for frying separate from those for boiling.
4. In a large pot, pour 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (about 45 ml) and heat it over medium-low heat; the remaining 55 ml will be used to finish the bowls at the end. Chop the onion very finely and add it to the hot oil, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 5-6 minutes over gentle heat, until it becomes translucent and soft, without letting it darken. Mince the garlic and add it only during the last minute, stirring: it should become fragrant without burning.
5. Add the peeled tomatoes, crushing them first with the spoon so they release their juices, and stir well. Let cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally: the sauce will become thicker and darker. Pour in about 1 liter of warm chickpea cooking water (all of that reserved in step 1, or ready vegetable broth), stir and bring to a boil over high heat: you will see bubbles crackling on the surface.
6. Add the cooked chickpeas to the boiling liquid and stir gently. Taste and adjust the salt if necessary, then grind fresh pepper directly into the pot. Let cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, so the chickpeas absorb the flavors and blend with the tomato sauce.
7. Add the raw tria meant for boiling (the one to be fried stays aside) to the pot, little by little and stirring, so the strips do not stick together. Cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring often, until the pasta is al dente and the liquid thickens into a creamy soup; if it dries out too much, add a ladle of hot water. Turn off the heat and let the soup rest for 2 minutes.
8. Shortly before serving, pour the peanut or sunflower seed oil into a small, deep pot and heat it over medium-high heat to 170-175°C (using a kitchen thermometer; without one, a small piece of dough dropped in should rise immediately to the surface sizzling vigorously). Dip a few strips of the tria for frying at a time, without crowding the pot, and fry for 1-2 minutes, turning only once, until golden and crispy. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place on paper towels. While still warm, sprinkle with a light layer of fine salt (about 2 g).
9. Pour the hot soup into deep bowls. Distribute the fried tria on top only at the moment of eating, placing it here and there with your hands, so it remains crispy (if added too early, it will absorb the moisture from the broth and become soft). Finish with a drizzle of the remaining extra virgin olive oil (about 55 ml total, or about 14 ml per bowl) and serve immediately, while the soup is very hot and the tria still fragrant.