Garbanzo bean "cacciucco"

200 g garbanzo beans; 400 g beet greens; 200 g peeled tomatoes; 3 cloves of garlic; 1 onion; 3 salted anchovies; 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil; 2 Tbsp. grated Pecorino cheese; 4 slices of homemade Tuscan bread

Despite the name, this dish has nothing to do with fish. "Cacciucco" is a term used to mean a mixture of ingredients.

Wash the garbanzo beans and soak them in lukewarm water with a pinch of baking soda for twelve hours. When it is time to cook the soup, wash the beet greens and cook them for a few minutes in a small amount of boiling salted water. Dice the onions and garlic. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and brown the onion and garlic mixture. Rinse and clean the anchovies and add them to the oil, stirring until they dissolve. Drain the garbanzo beans, rinse them under running water, and place them in the saucepan. Chop the peeled tomatoes. Cover the beans with water, add the tomatoes, the beet greens and their cooking water, pepper, and a little salt. Cover the pan, heat until boiling, and then lower the heat and simmer for about three hours, until the garbanzo beans are tender. Toast the slices of bread and crumble them into pieces in individual soup plates or in a large soup bowl, then pour the "cacciucco" over the toast and serve it piping hot and sprinkled with grated Pecorino.

For this recipe, we recommend using a pressure cooker; if using a pressure cooker, the soup only needs to be cooked for about 45 minutes.