My 90-year-old father-in-law, Dr. Gene Bogaty, loved making this soup that his Italian mother would make for him growing up. I’m sure she never measured the ingredients, but I’ve watched Gene make it over the years in hopes of documenting the amounts. I believe the ingredients below represent our most prized family soup recipe. Enjoy with a warm, crusty slice of bread.

Servings: 8-12 | Prep Time: 1 hr | Total Time: 5 hrs

INGREDIENTS

Salt Pork Base:

1 ½ cups / Salt Pork, Cubed

½ cup / Italian Parsley, Chopped

10-15 cloves / Garlic, Minced

Soup Ingredients:

1 ½-2 cups / Salt Pork Base (above)

16 cups or 1 gallon / Water

1 ½ cups / Dried Pinto Beans

1 ½ cups / Red Potatoes, Diced

1 ½ cups / Celery Stalks, Diced (plus a few chopped leaves)

1 small can / Tomato Sauce

3 cups / Ditalini Pasta

4 cups / Muenster Cheese, cubed

1-2 cups / Red Wine, optional

DIRECTIONS

Make Salt Pork Base: Form a paste by blending/emulsifying together the cubed salt pork, chopped parsley and mince garlic.

In a large soup pot, combine 1 ½-2 cups of the above salt pork base with the water, beans, potatoes, celery, and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer until beans and potatoes are soft, about 3 hours, covered.

When ready to serve, add in 3 cups dried pasta and boil for ten minutes, or until noodles are soft.

Place ⅓ cup of cubed Muenster cheese in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle soup over the top. Add a dash of red wine (optional).

Printed version HERE.