Here’s the version I created, flavored with what I had on hand. I chose to include the onion, rather than serve it on the side. I served it over duck eggs that I poached in the soup itself.
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Acquacotta – A Traditional Tuscan Soup
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Acquacotta is a dish whose origins hail from the herdsman and shepards of the Maremma region of Tuscany.
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 medium onion, sliced
- 12 stalks asparagus, woody ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, one peeled and minced, one just peeled
- 3 tbsp aromatic herbs (mint, basil, celery leaves)
- 4 kale leaves, thick stem removed and chopped
- 1/2 cup (15 g) dried mushrooms, rinsed, and chopped if large
- 1/4 cup (25 g) grated pecorino
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 5 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
- 6 cups (1.4 L) hot water
- 4 slices of bread, toasted
- 4 eggs
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium heat, add the onion and asparagus and sauté until soft and starting to brown, about 4 or 5 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, herbs, and kale. Cook 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
- Add the mushrooms, 1 tbsp of the pecorino, tomato puree and water. Bring to a simmer, and allow to cook for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Rub the toasted bread slices with the peeled clove of garlic, and place into 4 bowls. Drizzle each slice of bread with olive oil.
- Gently break the eggs into the simmering broth – it may be easiest to break them one at a time into a tea cup and slip them into the broth. Poach for 2 minutes. Remove the eggs, and place each in a bowl on top of the bread. Ladle a small amount of acquacotta into each bowl to cover the bread. Allow to sit for a minute or so, allowing the bread to soak up the soup.
- Finish ladling the remainder of the soup over the egg and bread. Sprinkle each with the remaining grated cheese and herbs, and drizzle with olive oil. Serve.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Soup
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 310
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use regular chicken eggs instead of duck eggs?
Yes — the author used duck eggs because she had them on hand, and they work beautifully poached in the broth for about 2 minutes, but standard large chicken eggs are a direct substitute. The technique is the same: slip them into the simmering acquacotta one at a time (using a teacup to guide each egg in), poach 2 minutes, and place each egg atop the garlic-rubbed, olive-oil-drizzled toast in the bowl. 
Why does the recipe rub the toasted bread with a raw garlic clove before serving?
Rubbing the toasted slices with the peeled whole garlic clove (kept aside specifically for this purpose) infuses the bread with a raw, pungent garlic bite that the simmered minced garlic in the broth does not provide. The toast is then drizzled with olive oil before the soup and egg are ladled over it, so the garlic flavor permeates from the base of every bowl.
I made the acquacotta soup tonight following exactly the instructions in this recepy. It was absolutely delicious!