Roveja from Castelluccio: the official recipe

by Silvia Matricardi

In our last article we talked about a typical legume of Valnerina-Castelluccio area that we just discovered: the roveja.

We had the chance to try it on the spot, one stormy day in Castelluccio, with a group of American guests.

It was delicious on bruschetta; that’s why we asked for the recipe.
We got it and immediately after we cooked it ourselves.

That’s the outcome.

And this is the official recipe.

Dose for six people

500 gr of roveja
Extra virgin olive oil
Celery, onions, 3 spoonful of peeled tomatoes
Salt
Hot pepper
Unsalty bread


Soak the roveja in water with some coarse salt for about 12 hours. Put the salty water and the roveja in a pot and let cook for 2 hours.
In a pan prepare a “soffritto”, that is: slice onions and celery, add some peeled tomatoes (just a little) and hot pepper and let fry for some minutes in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.
Drain the roveja and add it to the “soffritto”.

Let cook another 10-15 minutes.

Slice some unsalty bread and roast it; add the roveja on top of each slice and season with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Serve immediately, before the bread gets cold.

This plate would normally be part of an antipasto-course or, together with some vegetables, it can be a perfect light dinner or lunch.

We are sure that there are several other ways of cooking roveja. One of them, we guess, could be to prepare it, like we would do with lentils, in a soup. You would only have to avoid draining the roveja after having boiled it: you would have to pour it into the soffritto together with its boiling water and let cook for another 15-20 minutes to let amalgamate. Then serve it in bowls and season with some extra virgin olive oil.

We are going to try it soon, as we, being 100% Umbrians, love legumes soups, especialy in cold and rainy days like the ones we are having now, here IN Umbria.

Thanks to Gianni and "La vostra cantina" for giving us the recipe.