Istarska Maneštra
A thick Istrian soup of beans, potatoes, corn and cured pork, simmered until hearty and filling.
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 1 h 30 min
- total
- 1 h 50 min
- serves
- 6
- level
- easy
Maneštra is Istria's everyday answer to minestrone, a thick bean and vegetable soup built around whatever is in season, almost always with potatoes, corn and a piece of smoked pork.
It is meant to be thick enough to eat with a fork rather than sip with a spoon, and it gets better the longer it sits.
Part of our 20 best Croatian recipes list.
method
If using dried beans, drain the soaked beans and simmer in fresh water for 45 minutes until nearly tender, then drain.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot, and soften the onion, carrot and celery for 8 minutes.
Add the garlic and tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute.
Add the smoked pork, beans, potatoes, corn, bay leaf and enough water to cover everything generously.
Simmer gently, partially covered, for 45 to 60 minutes, until everything is very soft and the soup has thickened.
Remove the pork, shred or chop the meat, discard any bone, and return the meat to the pot.
Season with salt and pepper, and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving so it thickens further. Finish with parsley.
chef's tips
- Maneštra is meant to be thick, closer to a stew than a soup. If yours looks too thin, mash a few of the cooked potatoes against the side of the pot to thicken it.
- This is genuinely better the next day, once it has had time to sit and the starches settle, the same way a good minestrone is.
- Smoked pork is what sets this apart from a plain bean and vegetable soup; don't substitute plain unsmoked meat if you can avoid it.
- Corn is a distinctly Istrian addition compared to similar soups elsewhere in Croatia, a nod to the region's own corn-growing tradition.