150g hulled barley (preferable, but pearl is ok)
60g dried borlotti beans
350g potatoes, small cubes
150g carrots, small cubes
2 celery stalks (90g) small cubes
100g Savoy cabbage or cabbage, small cubes
40g leek, small cubes
1 cleaned pig's trotter (or smoked ham hock) about 500g
80g bacon ends, large chop
Approximately 2 litres of water
400 ml milk
Salt to taste
- Soak the borlotti together for 8–18 hours.
- Bring the water to a near boil, add the drained beans and the barley, then all the vegetables cut small.
- Cook covered for 20 minutes, then add the hock and the bacon ends, salt, cover with a slight gap, and simmer for 90 minutes stirring occasionally.
- (Here you could remove it from the heat and refrigerate overnight to remove the cold fat cap on the surface.)
- Thirty minutes before the end, add the 400ml of milk — this is what gives the soup its characteristic creaminess and body.
- Remove the bacon ends and the hock. You can either set it on a board cut into serving pieces for diners to help themselves or chop the bacon in chunks and shred the hock and mix in (removing fat, skin and bone of course).
