I followed my mother's recipes for "Manaste". I hadn't made it in years, but it is a recipe I have grown up with, and I simply love when my mother makes it. In fact, when she stayed with us for a while after I got out of the hospital a few years ago, that was one of my requested recipes. It always is!
Today I looked up "Manaste" on Google and a few different recipes came up! What they all had in common was this: beans and greens. However, none of the recipes that I found were a soup. This may actually be a unique recipe to the Barone family!
Like making Italian wedding soup, there are several steps in preparation, so allow for some time making this one!
Manaste
• 2 heads escarole
• 1 lb. Country ribs
• 1 stick pepperoni
• 1 can Whole peeled tomatoes, broken up
• 2 cans White beans (I used cannellini beans)
• grated Parmesan cheese
Step 1: Cut or tear up escarole leaves. Place in a large stock pot and cover with water. Cook on medium high heat for at least one hour (leaves will be wilty).
Step 2: In a frying pan, brown ribs well on both sides in 1 tablespoon olive oil, over medium heat. Remove meat and cut into bite-size pieces. Add to soup pot . (Be sure to include a few bones ! This flavors the broth more!)
Step 3: Slice pepperoni into 1/4 inch- thick slices. In a separate small sauce pot, add enough water to cover the pepperoni slices. Bring to a boil and allow to boil five minutes (this removes a lot of the grease!) Drain about half of the pepperoni water and add the rest (including the meat!) to the soup pot.
Step 4: Add the broken-up tomatoes and their juice.
Step 5: Add the canned beans and their juices.
Step 6: add a GENEROUS pinch of salt and about 1/4 cup of grated cheese.
Serve with additional grated cheese if desired.
Total cooking time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours
(Make sure you have some good Italian bread and butter for this, too!)
My mother and grandmother made this as well, but never with beans!
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