Pancotto all'olio di oliva Evo

The peasant culture of the noon, in a more far-sighted way than the consumerist one, albeit forced to do so by its own conditions, was hinged on the concept that today we would call circular economy, consisting, in good substance, in the total cancellation of waste. To this end, it was ingenious to recycle anything, including the leftovers of various meals, devising ad hoc recipes, such as the simple and tasty one of pancotto all'olio Evo, whose main ingredients are precisely stale bread and olive oil, the only luxury good present in peasant homes.

Ingredients and preparation

Ingredients

The basis of this recipe is, as mentioned earlier, stale bread, of which about 500g is needed. Then you need: a kilogram and a half of vegetables, which in keeping with tradition should be picked directly from the garden, including savoy cabbage, turnip greens, chard, arugula and wild fennel. Finally, 4 or 5 potatoes, 2 zucchini, cherry tomatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, salt and extra virgin olive oil are needed.

Preparation

To start, you need to wash, peel and dice the potatoes. Immerse them in a pot filled with water, along with the two cloves of garlic and bring them to a boil. After that it is the turn of the vegetables, strictly washed. Reaching boiling point again, arugula, cherry tomatoes and zucchini should also be added. Only at the end should the stale bread cut into pieces be added, which should soak until the desired consistency is obtained.

Everything should then be drained and left to drain for a couple of minutes before being poured into a bowl, possibly earthenware, seasoned with a pinch of salt and lots of Evo oil.  

You will thus have prepared a traditional, inexpensive, tasty dish that you would otherwise have hardly had a chance to try.