Tuscan Chickpea and Black Kale Soup with Garlic Toast

La storia di questo piatto

This is a modern interpretation, not a codified tradition: a bowl that borrows the humble spirit of Tuscan peasant soups like ribollita, where cavolo nero and legumes were the daily bread of the countryside. It carries no ancient name of its own, only the quiet lineage of poor-kitchen cooking made generous.

Ingredienti

• 300 g Dried chickpeas
• 1200 ml Water for soaking
• 12 g Coarse salt (for soaking)
• 1400 ml Water for cooking the chickpeas
• 1 sprig Rosemary (sprig)
• 300 g Black kale
• 5 clove Garlic
• 100 ml Extra virgin olive oil
• 0.75 teaspoon Red pepper flakes
• 6 g Fine salt
• 160 g Stale Tuscan bread
• 0.5 piece Lemon (optional)

Preparazione

1. Start with the soaking: patience is what makes the chickpeas creamy. Put the 300 g of chickpeas in a large bowl with 1200 ml of water and 12 g of coarse salt, and let them rest for 12 hours, for example from evening to morning. The salt softens the skin and seasons the heart of the chickpea right from the start. They are ready when they have doubled in volume and their skins are smooth, without wrinkles.
2. Drain the chickpeas and place them in a tall pot with 1400 ml of fresh water, 2 garlic cloves crushed in their skins, the sprig of rosemary and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra virgin olive oil: the oil helps keep the foam down. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off the foam with a ladle, then lower the flame to minimum, with just a gentle simmer, and cook for about 75 minutes. Halfway through, after about 40 minutes, add only 1 g of fine salt (a pinch): the chickpeas have already taken on salt during soaking, so here a light note is enough. After about 45 minutes of cooking, when the chickpeas have about 30 minutes left, move on to step 3 leaving the pot on the stove: steps 3 and 4 take place while the chickpeas finish cooking. The chickpeas are ready when, pressing one between two fingers, it yields without effort and the skin stays intact. Remove the rosemary and garlic, and keep all the cooking water: it is liquid gold for the soup.
3. This step takes place while the chickpeas are still simmering, when about 30 minutes of cooking remain. Clean the black kale: hold the stem with one hand and with the other strip off the leaf, setting aside the hard central rib. Cut the leaves into strips about 3 cm wide and rinse them well under cold water, since they always hide a little dirt between the folds. Don't dry them too much: the water left on the leaves will help them braise.
4. This step also happens while the chickpeas finish cooking (in the last 20 minutes or so). In a wide casserole pour 30 ml (2 tablespoons) of extra virgin olive oil, add 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced and 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Turn on the heat to low and let it sizzle gently for 2–3 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and just golden: if it darkens it turns bitter, so remove the casserole from the heat if it colours too quickly. Add the black kale and a ladleful (about 100 ml) of the chickpea cooking water. Before salting, taste that water: it is already somewhat savoury. Then add 2 g of fine salt (about 1/3 teaspoon), cover and braise over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally with a spoon. The kale is ready when it turns very dark, glossy and tender to the bite. Right now, while the kale braises, turn the oven on to 200°C for the toasts in step 6: the chickpeas finish cooking in those same minutes.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chickpeas to the kale casserole. Take a ladleful of chickpeas, mash them with a fork in a bowl and return them to the pot: they will act as a natural cream, without cream or flour. Pour in 600 ml of their cooking water (set the rest aside), taste and adjust with 2 g of fine salt (about 1/3 teaspoon), then let simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. During these 10 minutes prepare the toasts in parallel (step 6). The soup is ready when it coats the back of the spoon: thick, but still eaten with a spoon. If it tightens too much, loosen it with a ladle of the leftover cooking water.
6. This step takes place in parallel with step 5, during the 10 minutes in which the soup simmers: prepare the toasts, the crunchy contrast this dish calls for. With the oven already at 200°C, cut the bread into 4 thick slices, brush them with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of extra virgin olive oil and toast for about 8 minutes, turning them halfway. They should be golden and sound hollow when tapped with the knuckles. As soon as they come out of the oven, rub the cut side of the fifth and last garlic clove, whole, over each one: the heat releases its fragrance and the crust acts as a grater.
7. The final touch brings everything alive. Off the heat, if you like, squeeze half a lemon and add the juice to the soup a teaspoon at a time: the acidity brightens the chickpeas and softens the bitterness of the kale (this is a modern touch, not traditional: you can use just a few drops or omit it). Taste and adjust the salt with at most 1 g of fine salt (about 1/4 teaspoon, a generous pinch). Place a toast on the bottom of each deep bowl, pour in the boiling soup and finish with 10 ml of raw extra virgin olive oil per bowl (40 ml in total for 4 bowls) and a pinch of red pepper flakes (about 1/4 teaspoon in total) if you like. Serve immediately, so the toast begins to soften but stays crisp in the centre.