I have recently spent a couple of days in Val d’Aosta, one of the northernmost regions of Italy right on the Alps. There I ate of of the local dishes, a very warming baked soup. Yes, baked. Valpellinentze soup is made with very simple, cheap ingredients: cabbage, fontina cheese, a mild beef or vegetable stock, stale bread, just don’t use presliced bread. You need a rather dark, crusty bread made with a mixture of what and rye flour that has been left to go hard for a few days.
Remove the hard central stem bron the cabbage leaves and simmer it until tender with butter and a little stock. Place a few bits butter in the bottom of a baking dish, then cabbage leaves, stale bread slices, diced fontina cheese and continue until you are out of bread and cabbage, then complete with more cheese and a little more butter. Now pour the beef stock until the ingrediets are nearly submerged and bake for around 40 minutes at 180°C, until a golden crust appears. If you want a nicer presentation, you may also bake the soup in individual ramequins.
It’s a hardy dish perfect for winter or for cooler days up the mountains. The basic formula can be adapted to using other winter vegetables (I have been served a version with a mixture of red cabbage and leek) or with other cheeses, as long as they are flavorful and will melt to a stringy but tender texture (no American cheese, no mozzarella).
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