This is the winter soup of Monteleone di Spoleto, a village at 978 metres in the high Valnerina whose emmer, Farro di Monteleone di Spoleto, became the first farro in Europe to earn Protected Designation of Origin status, in 2010. The local ecotype of Triticum dicoccum mills to an unusual tobacco-brown grain. Soaked, then simmered slowly with a soffritto of guanciale, sausage and vegetables, the emmer stays firm and nutty in a brothy, russet soup. A meatless version leans on olive oil and a thread of saffron. It is the dish that has kept a near-lost grain in cultivation.
Farro, the emmer wheat Triticum dicoccum, is one of the oldest cultivated grains, and at Monteleone di Spoleto it has a documented deep history: emmer caryopses were found in the local sixth-century-BC Etruscan 'Tomba della Biga', and archives record the crop spreading widely from the sixteenth century. Grown only in the mountain zone above 700 metres around Monteleone and Poggiodomo, the local ecotype earned Protected Designation of Origin status in 2010, the first farro DOP in Europe. The zuppa di farro is the traditional way the village eats its own grain: a slow winter pottage that stretches a little meat and a handful of vegetables around the emmer. The grain is bound up with the village's devotion to its patron, Saint Nicholas, and by local tradition a farro soup is shared at his December feast.
The broth is thick and russet, warming and savoury from rendered guanciale and sausage; against it the emmer grains stay whole and springy, giving a nutty, faintly chewy bite that never turns to mush the way rice or barley would.
Emmer is a hulled wheat with a tough, fibre-rich bran that resists gelatinisation, so the grain holds its shape and springy bite through a long simmer while its endosperm starch slowly swells and leaks out to thicken the broth. Soaking first hydrates that hard pericarp and shortens the cooking. Emmer's gluten is weaker and less extensible than bread wheat's, another reason the kernels stay separate rather than going gluey. The soffritto does the flavour work: guanciale and sausage render fat that carries fat-soluble aromatics, while long, gentle heat draws gelatine from the meat and browns the aromatics for savoury depth. The grain's tobacco colour comes from pigments in its bran, which survive into the bowl.
Variations
The classic Valnerina version uses guanciale and crumbled pork sausage; a leaner one drops the sausage for pancetta alone. A meatless version, eaten on lean days, is built on olive oil, the same vegetables and a thread of saffron. Some cooks purée part of the soup for body, or finish with pecorino and a raw drizzle of oil. Older recipes thicken it almost to a spoonable pottage; lighter modern ones keep it brothy.
On the Palate
Where Zuppa di farro di Monteleone di Spoleto sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6
How it's made
8 steps · 20 min
- 1480 min
Rinse the emmer and soak it in cold water for at least 8 hours or overnight; drain.
- 210 min
Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery; dice the guanciale and remove the sausage from its casing.
- 36 min
In a heavy pot, warm the olive oil and render the guanciale, then add the crumbled sausage and brown.
Watch outRender the guanciale slowly first so its fat coats everything — rush it over high heat and the base tastes of browned pork, not sweet fat.
- 410 min
Add the chopped vegetables and cook gently until softened and lightly coloured, about 10 minutes.
- 53 min
Stir in the tomato passata and cook 2–3 minutes to lose its raw edge.
- 65 min
Add the drained emmer, stir to coat, then pour in the hot broth to cover generously.
- 765 min
Simmer gently, partly covered, for about 60–70 minutes until the grain is tender but still springy, topping up with broth as needed; season to taste.
Watch outSimmer until the emmer is tender but still springy — over-cooked it goes gluey; top up with broth if it drinks too much.
- 85 min
Rest off the heat for 5 minutes, then serve hot with a raw drizzle of olive oil.
