Seupa Vapellenentse Recipe - Cheesy Cabbage Soup From the Valle D'Aosta

By Dustin

Ingredients

• A small head of Savoy cabbage
• 3/4 pound (300 g) Fontina Cheese (in its absence use a moderately sharp cheese that will melt)
• 1 quart hot beef broth
• 1 pound (400 g) stale rye bread, sliced
• 2 ounces cured lard or pancetta, minced
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• Salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, and powdered cinnamon

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from italianfood.about.com

Preparation

Step 1

Clean the cabbage, stripping away the toughest outer leaves and the hard core, and blanch the remaining leaves in salted water.

Drain them, cut them into thin strips, and transfer them to a pot with the lard. Sauté until they are nicely colored. You will now need an oven-proof dish or 4 oven-proof bowls, and should preheat your oven to 160 C (320 F).

In either case, line the bottom of the container(s) with thin slices of the bread, then some of the cabbage mixture, a pinch of the spices (go easy on the nutmeg), a layer of thinly sliced fontina, and continue until all is used up. The top layer should be fontina dotted with butter. Add broth to just barely cover, slip the bowls or dish into the oven, and bake for an hour. Serve hot, warning your diners that there is melted cheese in the soup, lest they burn their tongues.

A note: There is also a much simpler version of this, made only with bread and cheese, but not cabbage. In this case you should dust the top layer with grated Parmigiano, and a couple of grinds from the pepper mill. The oven should be a little hotter, 180 C (360 F), and the cooking time in the oven less -- 10-15 minutes. Otherwise, use the quantities above.

Yield: 4 servings of Seupa Vapellenentse.