Hearty soup eaten by ‘world’s longest-lived families’ is so simple to make — recipe
The world's longest-living family, the Melis siblings, were said to have eaten this tasty longevity soup every single day. It's packed full of vitamins and minerals.
The world's longest-living family, the Melis siblings, lived in a remote Sardinian village and had a combined age of more than 800 years. The hearty, healthy soup has now gained fame as one of the key factors to living a long and healthy life. It’s incredibly nutritious and packed with vitamins and minerals, but also very easy to prepare. There are many adaptations of it online, and it's super versatile.
The recipe notes from Blue Zones said: “A bountiful dish that is eaten every day for lunch by some of the world’s longest-lived families in Sardinia, Italy. It can be made with seasonal vegetables from the garden, but always includes beans and fregula, a toasted pebble-sized semolina pasta that is popular in Sardinia.”
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Ingredients:
Half a cup of dried peeled fava beans
Half a cup of dried cranberry beans
Third cup of dried chickpeas
Seven tablespoons of olive oil
One onion, chopped
Two carrots, chopped
Two celery stalks, chopped
Two teaspoons of minced garlic
One can of tomatoes
Three potatoes, diced
One and a half cups of chopped fennel
Quarter cup of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Chopped fresh basil
Quarter cup of fregula
Half a teaspoon of salt
Half a teaspoon of black pepper
Quarter cup of grated pecorino Romano
Method:
Start by soaking the fava beans, cranberry beans and chickpeas in a large bowl of water for at least eight hours before draining and rinsing. Ideally, do this the night before you want to cook.
Warm three tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, stirring frequently, and cook for five minutes, until slightly softened.
Add the garlic and cook for 20 minutes before adding the tomatoes, potatoes, fennel, parsley, basil, and chickpeas. Add enough water so that everything is submerged by one inch.
Raise the heat to high and bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer slowly, uncovered, until the beans are tender.
Add more water if necessary and cook for approximately 1 to 1.5 hours. Then, stir in the pasa with the salt and pepper, adding more if it seems dry.
Continue simmering, uncovered, until the pasta is tender, which should take around 10 minutes.
Pour one tablespoon of olive oil into each serving bowl, divide the soup among them, and top with a tablespoon of grated cheese.
