Minestra di broccoli e arzilla

Skate and Romanesco Broccoli Soup

I lived in Rome for over ten years, but in all that time, minestra di broccoli e arzilla, or Skate and Romanesco Broccoli Soup, somehow passed me by. I belatedly discovered this homey soup only recently, while perusing some old cookery books I picked up there years ago. Better late than never…

Like many Roman classics, this humble soup is quite simple to make: you start with a broth made from the skate, which is added to the Romanesco broccoli which you’ve begun to sauté with a tomato-tinged soffritto. Everything simmers together until the broccoli is tender, then pasta is added to the pot and the simmering continues until it, too, is tender. The skate is shredded and added to the soup. It’s a unusual, even seemingly odd, combination of flavors, but it does work, and works very well.

Minestra di broccoli e arzilla makes a nice primo, or first course, for a traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner.