{
  "slug": "zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio",
  "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/",
  "name": "Zuppa di lenticchie di Castelluccio",
  "english": "Castelluccio lentil soup from Norcia, Umbria",
  "aka": [
    "zuppa di lenticchie di Castelluccio di Norcia",
    "zuppa di lenticchie IGP di Castelluccio di Norcia",
    "Castelluccio lentil soup",
    "Umbrian lentil soup"
  ],
  "summary": "The lentil soup of Norcia's high plateau, made with the tiny, thin-skinned lentils of Castelluccio, an EU PGI since 1997, cooked without soaking over a soffritto of vegetables, garlic and sage.",
  "essentials": [
    "Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentils: small, flat and thin-skinned, washed, with no soaking needed.",
    "A soffritto of onion, carrot, celery, potato, garlic and sage in a little olive oil.",
    "The lentils covered with cold water, a little passata, then about 40 minutes at a gentle simmer under the lid.",
    "The liquid must always cover the lentils; the garlic clove comes out before serving.",
    "Served with raw extra virgin olive oil, and toasted bread if you like."
  ],
  "diet": [
    "vegetarian",
    "vegan"
  ],
  "region": {
    "slug": "umbria",
    "name": "Umbria",
    "url": "https://nonnario.com/regions/umbria/"
  },
  "place": "Castelluccio di Norcia",
  "coords": [
    42.828,
    13.207
  ],
  "course": {
    "id": "zuppe",
    "it": "Zuppe",
    "en": "Soups"
  },
  "level": {
    "id": "tradition",
    "name": "Documented tradition",
    "it": "Tradizione documentata",
    "description": "A regional tradition documented in cookbooks and local practice, with no single official text.",
    "url": "https://nonnario.com/method/#level-tradition"
  },
  "status": "checked",
  "published": "2026-11-02",
  "checked": "2026-11-02",
  "cooked": null,
  "pending": null,
  "provenance": {
    "by": "Umbrian tradition",
    "reference": "Compared across 9 sources, listed below; this page publishes the most widely recognised version.",
    "year": null
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "label": "Umbriatourism, the Region of Umbria's official tourism portal: zuppa di lenticchie IGP di Castelluccio di Norcia, a traditional recipe for four (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.umbriatourism.it/it/w/zuppa-di-lenticchie-igp-di-castelluccio-di-norcia-it"
    },
    {
      "label": "Umbriatourism, the Region of Umbria's official tourism portal: the Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentil (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.umbriatourism.it/it/w/la-lenticchia-di-castelluccio-di-norcia-igp"
    },
    {
      "label": "AIS Lombardia, ViniPlus di Lombardia no. 25: the Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentil, by Gabriele Merlo, with a lentil soup for four (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.aislombardia.it/media2/libreria/allegati/%20ViniPlus25_Lenticchia_Merlo.pdf"
    },
    {
      "label": "Gambero Rosso: all about lentils, with eight Italian varieties, by Antonio Caso, 2022 (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.gamberorosso.it/notizie/tutto-sulle-lenticchie-curiosita-varieta-e-ricette"
    },
    {
      "label": "Michelin Guide Italy: the Castelluccio lentil, its origins and customs, 6 August 2019 (Italian)",
      "url": "https://guide.michelin.com/it/it/notizia/dining-in/lenticchia-di-castelluccio-origini-usanze-e-ricette-stellate"
    },
    {
      "label": "Regione Marche: the specification of the Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia PGI, decree of 23 December 1998, GURI no. 20 of 26 January 1999 (unofficial copy; Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.regione.marche.it/Portals/0/Agricoltura/qualita/lenticchia%20di%20castelluccio%20igp.pdf"
    },
    {
      "label": "EU register (eAmbrosia): Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia, PGI, file PGI-IT-1557, protected since 13 June 1997, with its summary sheet and the 2019 temporary amendments",
      "url": "https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/eambrosia/geographical-indications-register/details/EUGI00000013336"
    },
    {
      "label": "Official Journal: Commission Regulation (EC) No 1065/97 of 12 June 1997, which registers the name (Italian)",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/IT/TXT/?uri=CELEX:31997R1065"
    },
    {
      "label": "Cooperativa Lenticchia IGP di Castelluccio di Norcia, the producers' cooperative that applied for the PGI: its traditional lentil soup for four (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.lenticchiaigpcastelluccio.it/lenticchia_igp_di_castelluccio_di_norcia.php"
    }
  ],
  "story": [
    "Castelluccio is a hamlet of Norcia, at 1,452 metres, above the plateau that bears its name in the Monti Sibillini National Park: the bed of a lake that dried up in prehistoric times, under snow from late November to mid-March. Its lentils are sown as soon as the snow melts and flower from late May into July, their small white flowers among the poppies and cornflowers of the ‘Fiorita’ of the Pian Grande; seeds have been found in Neolithic tombs of about 3000 BC. Since 1997 the EU has protected the Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia as a PGI. Its specification reserves the name to the local lentils grown on the plateau, at an average altitude of 1,400 metres: roundish, flattened seeds, a thousand of them weighing about 23 grams, sold in colours from speckled green to light brown, some of them tiger-striped. The lentils are very small, and growers and cooks prize them for a skin so thin and tender that they need no soaking and are cooked in about twenty minutes.",
    "The PGI protects the lentil, not the soup, and the soup has no official recipe. We compared nine sources and publish the most widely recognised version: a soffritto of onion, carrot, celery, potato, garlic and sage in olive oil, the lentils covered with cold water, a little tomato passata, about forty minutes under the lid, then raw olive oil and toasted bread. The full recipes agree that the lentils go into the pot unsoaked, with garlic and celery, and cook for 30 to 40 minutes in water that covers them, and that the soup is finished with olive oil and toasted bread; a plainer local version, the producers' own, keeps only the celery and garlic. The amounts and times the recipe leaves open (the water, oil, sage and salt, the weight of the potato, the heat and length of each stage) and the rules for leftovers are ours, and say so where they appear."
  ],
  "serves": 4,
  "makes": null,
  "minutes": {
    "handsOn": 30,
    "cooking": 58,
    "resting": 0
  },
  "plan": "About 1½ hours, most of it unattended. Wash the lentils and chop the vegetables (15 minutes), sauté the soffritto (8–10 minutes), add the lentils and cold water and bring it to the boil (10–15 minutes), season it, then let it simmer under the lid for about 40 minutes, stirring often and keeping the lentils covered. Toast the bread during the last 6 minutes or so of the simmer, then take out the garlic and serve.",
  "equipment": [
    "Earthenware pot (the recipe's own suggestion) or a heavy saucepan of about 3 l, with a lid; earthenware needs a heat diffuser on gas, and an adapter disc on induction",
    "Fine sieve, for washing the lentils, and a tray or plate to look them over",
    "Chopping board and knife",
    "Wooden spoon and a ladle",
    "Kettle of hot water, for topping up",
    "Grill or a dry frying pan, for the bread",
    "Shallow containers and a probe thermometer, for any leftovers"
  ],
  "ingredients": [
    {
      "group": "For the soup",
      "items": [
        {
          "quantity": 300,
          "unit": "g",
          "item": "Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentils",
          "note": "dry; washed, not soaked",
          "text": "300 g Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentils (dry; washed, not soaked)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "unit": "pc",
          "item": "onion",
          "note": "finely chopped",
          "text": "1 onion (finely chopped)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "unit": "pc",
          "item": "carrot",
          "note": "finely chopped",
          "text": "1 carrot (finely chopped)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "unit": "pc",
          "item": "celery stalk",
          "note": "finely chopped",
          "text": "1 celery stalk (finely chopped)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "unit": "pc",
          "item": "potato",
          "note": "a medium one, about 150 g, peeled and finely chopped",
          "text": "1 potato (a medium one, about 150 g, peeled and finely chopped)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 1,
          "unit": "clove",
          "item": "garlic",
          "note": "peeled and left whole",
          "text": "1 clove garlic (peeled and left whole)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 100,
          "unit": "ml",
          "item": "tomato passata",
          "note": "half a glass",
          "text": "100 ml tomato passata (half a glass)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": null,
          "unit": null,
          "item": "fresh sage leaves",
          "note": "a few: about 4 leaves is our guide",
          "text": "fresh sage leaves (a few: about 4 leaves is our guide)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": 2,
          "unit": "tbsp",
          "item": "extra virgin olive oil",
          "note": "a drizzle for the soffritto (our guide), plus more, raw, to serve",
          "text": "2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (a drizzle for the soffritto (our guide), plus more, raw, to serve)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": null,
          "unit": null,
          "item": "cold water",
          "note": "about 1.2 l as our guide, enough to cover the lentils well, and a little hot water to top up",
          "text": "cold water (about 1.2 l as our guide, enough to cover the lentils well, and a little hot water to top up)",
          "recipe": null
        },
        {
          "quantity": null,
          "unit": null,
          "item": "salt and black pepper",
          "note": "to taste",
          "text": "salt and black pepper (to taste)",
          "recipe": null
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "group": "To serve, if you like",
      "items": [
        {
          "quantity": 4,
          "unit": "pc",
          "item": "slices of country bread",
          "note": "toasted, one for each bowl",
          "text": "4 slices of country bread (toasted, one for each bowl)",
          "recipe": null
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "method": [
    {
      "phase": "Prepare the lentils and vegetables",
      "intro": null,
      "steps": [
        {
          "n": 1,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-1",
          "title": "Look over and wash the lentils",
          "text": "Spread the 300 g of lentils on a tray and pick out any small stones or bits of husk. Tip them into a fine sieve and rinse them under cold running water, stirring them with your hand, until the water runs clear. Leave them to drain. There is no need to soak them.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 5,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": null,
          "official": false,
          "check": "The rinsing water runs clear and there is no grit left among the lentils.",
          "tips": [
            "Castelluccio lentils have a thin, tender skin, so they go into the pot straight from dry."
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": 2,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-2",
          "title": "Chop the vegetables",
          "text": "Peel the onion, carrot and potato. Chop the onion, carrot, celery and potato finely, into small dice of about 5 mm. Peel the garlic clove and leave it whole, so it can be found and taken out at the end.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 10,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": null,
          "official": false,
          "check": "All the pieces are small and roughly the same size, so they soften together.",
          "tips": []
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "phase": "Cook the soup",
      "intro": null,
      "steps": [
        {
          "n": 3,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-3",
          "title": "Sauté the vegetables with the garlic and sage",
          "text": "Put the pot over medium-low heat with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chopped vegetables, the garlic clove and the sage leaves and sauté them gently, stirring now and then, for 8–10 minutes.",
          "kind": "passive",
          "minutes": [
            8,
            10
          ],
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": "medium-low",
          "official": false,
          "check": "The onion is soft and translucent and the vegetables are lightly coloured at the edges; the garlic is pale gold, not brown.",
          "tips": [
            "Our guide: about 2 tablespoons of oil is the recipe's ‘drizzle’ for four.",
            "If the garlic starts to brown, turn the heat down: browned garlic makes the soup bitter."
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": 4,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-4",
          "title": "Add the lentils and cold water",
          "text": "Add the drained lentils and pour in about 1.2 l of cold water, enough to cover them well, by about 5 cm.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 2,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": null,
          "official": false,
          "check": "The lentils and vegetables are well under the water.",
          "tips": [
            "Our guide: the amount of water is ours; what matters is that the lentils stay covered all the way through."
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": 5,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-5",
          "title": "Bring it to the boil",
          "text": "Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the pot to the boil, uncovered. Skim off any grey foam that gathers on top.",
          "kind": "passive",
          "minutes": [
            10,
            15
          ],
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": "medium-high",
          "official": false,
          "check": "Bubbles break across the whole surface.",
          "tips": []
        },
        {
          "n": 6,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-6",
          "title": "Lower the heat, add the passata and season",
          "text": "As soon as it boils, lower the heat until the soup barely bubbles. Stir in the 100 ml of passata, about 6 g of salt (a level teaspoon) and a few grinds of black pepper.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 2,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": "low",
          "official": false,
          "check": "Only a few small bubbles rise, slowly, at the surface.",
          "tips": [
            "Our guide: the salt is a starting point; taste and adjust it at the end."
          ]
        },
        {
          "n": 7,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-7",
          "title": "Simmer under the lid for about 40 minutes",
          "text": "Put the lid on and cook at a gentle simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring often (every 5 minutes or so) so nothing catches on the bottom. Each time, check the level: the liquid must always cover the lentils. If it drops, add a little hot water from the kettle.",
          "kind": "passive",
          "minutes": 40,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": "low",
          "official": false,
          "check": "The lentils are tender right through, with no chalky centre, and most of their skins are still whole; the potato is soft and starting to break up; the soup is brothy, with the liquid still covering the lentils.",
          "tips": [
            "Taste a lentil after about 20 minutes: Castelluccio lentils are often tender by then, and they hold their shape well in a soup. The rest of the time softens the potato and thickens the soup.",
            "Top up with hot water, not cold, so the simmer does not stop."
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "phase": "Serve",
      "intro": null,
      "steps": [
        {
          "n": 8,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-8",
          "title": "Toast the bread",
          "text": "If you are serving bread, start this about 6 minutes before the end of the simmer, so the soup still comes off the heat at about 40 minutes. Cut the country bread into slices about 1.5 cm thick and toast them under a hot grill, or in a dry frying pan over medium heat, for 2–3 minutes on each side.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 6,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": "medium",
          "official": false,
          "check": "Golden and crisp on both sides, still a little soft in the middle.",
          "tips": []
        },
        {
          "n": 9,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-9",
          "title": "Take out the garlic and taste",
          "text": "When the 40 minutes are up, turn off the heat. Fish out the garlic clove and throw it away. Taste the soup and adjust the salt and pepper.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 2,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": null,
          "official": false,
          "check": "No garlic clove left in the pot, and the soup is seasoned to your taste.",
          "tips": []
        },
        {
          "n": 10,
          "url": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/#step-10",
          "title": "Serve with raw olive oil",
          "text": "Ladle the soup into warm bowls and finish each with a thin drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil. Serve the toasted bread with it, one slice for each bowl.",
          "kind": "active",
          "minutes": 3,
          "celsius": null,
          "heat": null,
          "official": false,
          "check": "Hot soup, a thread of green oil on top of each bowl.",
          "tips": [
            "Leftovers: into the fridge in shallow containers within 2 hours of the soup coming off the heat, eaten within 3 days, and brought back to a rolling boil, at least 75 °C at the centre, each time. It thickens as it stands: loosen it with a little hot water."
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "quick": [
    "Wash the lentils in a sieve under cold running water; they need no soaking.",
    "Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery and potato, and sauté them in a little olive oil with the whole garlic clove and a few sage leaves, in an earthenware pot if you have one.",
    "Add the lentils, cover them well with cold water and bring it to the boil.",
    "Lower the heat, stir in the passata and season with salt and pepper.",
    "Cover and simmer gently for about 40 minutes, stirring often, and keep the lentils always under their liquid, topping up with hot water.",
    "Take out the garlic and serve with a drizzle of raw olive oil and, if you like, a slice of toasted bread."
  ],
  "when": {
    "text": "Castelluccio lentils, harvested in summer, come to the table in winter, and they are the traditional legume of the year's-end feasts.",
    "source": {
      "label": "AIS Lombardia, ViniPlus di Lombardia no. 25: the Castelluccio di Norcia PGI lentil, by Gabriele Merlo, with a lentil soup for four (Italian)",
      "url": "https://www.aislombardia.it/media2/libreria/allegati/%20ViniPlus25_Lenticchia_Merlo.pdf"
    }
  },
  "keeps": null,
  "variants": [
    {
      "name": "With celery and garlic only",
      "text": "The producers' own plainer soup: for four, 400 g of lentils in a litre of water with a celery stalk and a garlic clove, in an earthenware pot if possible, cooked for about 40 minutes; near the end it gets its salt and pepper, crostini of toasted bread flavoured with a little garlic, and olive oil.",
      "source": {
        "label": "Cooperativa Lenticchia IGP di Castelluccio di Norcia, the producers' cooperative that applied for the PGI: its traditional lentil soup for four (Italian)",
        "url": "https://www.lenticchiaigpcastelluccio.it/lenticchia_igp_di_castelluccio_di_norcia.php"
      },
      "recipe": null
    }
  ],
  "variantOf": [],
  "usedIn": [],
  "mistakes": [
    "Soaking them: they need none, and the times on this page are for lentils cooked straight from dry.",
    "Letting the liquid drop below the lentils: keep them covered all the time, topping up with hot water.",
    "Leaving it at a full boil: lower the heat as soon as it boils, to a gentle simmer.",
    "Browning the garlic in the soffritto: soften it gently, or the soup turns bitter.",
    "Forgetting the garlic clove: take it out before serving."
  ],
  "abroad": [
    "Look for ‘Lenticchia di Castelluccio di Norcia’ with ‘Indicazione Geografica Protetta’ (IGP; PGI in English) on the pack: the specification allows only jute bags or cardboard or plastic packs of 250 g, 500 g or 1 kg, each sealed and marked with the year of production (‘annata di produzione’).",
    "Tomato passata is sieved tomato purée, sold in the US as strained tomatoes; it is not tomato paste.",
    "Other lentils behave differently: larger ones, such as those of Altamura, are soaked the night before, so the times on this page hold for small, thin-skinned lentils like Castelluccio's."
  ],
  "image": "https://nonnario.com/assets/img/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio.jpg",
  "video": null,
  "versions": {
    "page": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio/",
    "markdown": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio.md",
    "json": "https://nonnario.com/recipes/zuppa-di-lenticchie-di-castelluccio.json"
  },
  "cite": "Cite the recipe's page and the month its sources were checked; for the official text itself, cite the document listed under its sources.",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"
  }
}