The Zemin recipe, an exquisite bean soup typical of the culinary tradition of the Ligurian west.

FOR 6 PEOPLE

Ingredients

700 g of Conio beans*

1 leek

12 pork ribs

3 slices of Albenga yellow pumpkin

1 carrot

6 potatoes

1 bunch of chards

1 celery stalk

6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil from western Liguria

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Directions

Soak the dried Conio beans for 12 hours.

Clean the chards, cut them finely and add salt; let them rest for 2 hours.

Clean the leek, cut it into slices and fry it in 4 tablespoons of oil with the ribs.

Add the beans to 1.5 liters of water (they must be placed in the pot at the same temperature at which they were soaked) and bring to a boil.

Add the rest of the diced vegetables.

Cook over low heat in a covered pot for at least 3 hours.

With a slotted spoon lift the vegetables from the pot and mush them up with a fork; repeat the operation until all the chopped vegetables are mushed up (leave only the beans whole).

Put the pot back on the stove, making sure it doesn't burn, for half an hour. Season with salt and pepper, serve hot with extra virgin olive oil for blessing.

Zemin is a word of Arabic derivation which means prolonged cooking with water. The valleys of the Imperia hinterland combine this word with a simple bean soup that is considered one of the best dishes in the local cuisine.

* Conio beans are white beans (a product defended by a Slow Food presidium), peculiar due to the consistency of their peel which is practically imperceptible.