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Valpellinese baked soup with cabbage, bread, and fontina
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Source: https://recipheon.com/en/recipes/soups/valpellinese-baked-soup-with-cabbage-bread-and-fontina
About this recipe
Valpellinese soup combines stale bread, Savoy cabbage, and fontina beneath a golden cheese crust. This hearty soup from the Aosta Valley is baked, in this version, with cabbage leaves cooked in beef broth. The bread absorbs the hot broth and softens while retaining distinct layers with the cheese and cabbage. A white wheat loaf from the previous day, cut into fairly thin slices, works best. Fontina DOP gives the soup its characteristic flavor and creamy texture, while a little cinnamon in the melted butter gently brings out its aroma. After baking, let the soup rest briefly, then spoon it into deep bowls with a large serving spoon: the center should remain soft and moist.
Ingredients
Soup for baking
400 g stale white wheat bread without seeds, from the previous day, weighed before soaking
400 g Fontina DOP cheese without the rind, edible weight
500 g trimmed raw Savoy cabbage leaves without thick ribs
1200 ml prepared, strained, unsalted beef broth; all the broth used to cook the cabbage stays in the dish
150 g unsalted butter, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 g fine salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
Steps
Preheat a conventional oven (no fan) to 200°C. Use a baking dish about 28 × 20 cm, at least 7 cm deep, with a capacity of about 3.5 l; grease its bottom and sides with 10 g butter. Cut the bread into slices about 1 cm thick and the fontina into thin slices, about 2–3 mm thick. Cut the rinsed cabbage leaves into strips about 1 cm wide.
Bring the broth and salt to a boil in a pot with a capacity of about 4 l. Add the cabbage, stir, and cook, covered, over low heat for about 15 minutes, until the leaves soften and the thicker parts can easily be cut with a spoon. Lift out the cabbage with a slotted spoon, letting it drain briefly over the pot; reserve all the hot broth for soaking the layers.
AI-generated Divide the bread and fontina into three roughly equal portions and the cabbage into two. Arrange the first portion of bread on the bottom of the dish, filling larger gaps with pieces of bread. Add half the cabbage and the first portion of fontina, then repeat the layers of bread, cabbage, and cheese. Finish with the last portion of bread and cover it with the remaining fontina; distribute the ingredients evenly without pressing them down firmly.
AI-generated Slowly pour in all the reserved hot broth from cooking the cabbage, distributing it across the dish and around the edges. Gently pierce the layers with a fork in several places so the liquid reaches the bottom slices. Wait about 5 minutes; the bread should absorb the broth evenly, and the layers should settle a little. Meanwhile, prepare the cinnamon butter.
AI-generated Melt the remaining 140 g butter in a small saucepan over low heat, add the cinnamon, and stir. Remove the pan from the heat once the butter is melted and hot, before it starts to brown. Once the bread has soaked up the broth, pour the butter evenly over the soup.
Place the dish on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes without covering it. The soup is ready when the cheese forms a golden crust and the broth bubbles visibly around the edges; the center should remain soft and moist. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with aluminum foil toward the end of baking. If the surface is still pale, bake for a few more minutes, watching the cheese so it does not burn.
Remove the dish from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes so the layers can settle slightly. Divide into 4 generous servings and use a large serving spoon to scoop the bread, cabbage, cheese, and broth from the bottom into deep bowls. Serve hot; the inside should be creamy and moist, with a lightly crisp cheese topping.
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