What's cookin'? - Manaste (beans and greens soup)

Yesterday it was cold and snowy. I of course made soup - I swear, I could live on the stuff. My husband likes every soup I make. I have a feeling that when the boys are on their own we will eat soup every day! (A different kind every day, naturally, I have that many recipes!)

 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!)