Truthfully, the cod bone-based cuisine simply didn’t entice me. The bean soup, however—studded as it was with pancetta and barley and rich with rosemary, garlic and sage—won me over immediately. More on that in a moment.

I was at Trattoria Toni de Spin in Treviso, a river-riddled town
40 kilometers north of Venice. The community is best known as the birthplace of tiramisù, but by this point in the trip I’d eaten more than enough of that creamy-sweet concoction. Never much of a dessert person, I needed savory and substantive. Bonus points for warm and hearty, given the damp February chill.

Which is how I ended up at Trattoria Toni de Spin, a restaurant around since about 1880. And the building shows it, all cathedral ceiling, brick exterior and arched wooden beams. In the day, it specialized in cod. The “Spin” is a derivative of spina, which means thorn. A reference to the spiky bones of the cod. Plenty of cod dishes remain on the menu today.

But as I said, I was there for the beans. And I was glad I was.
Guido Severin has been chef at the trattoria for more than 20 years. He recommended the zuppa d’orzo e fagioli. Quite simply, barley and bean soup. Except the taste was anything but simple, though his cooking was.

What arrived was a bowl of tender-­chewy barley, into the center of which was ladled a rich helping of Lamon beans, a variety of borlotti. The broth around those beans was incredibly creamy. Turns out it’s from the beans themselves. After cooking them, he pureed half, then stirred them all together to create a creamy broth.

Toss in some carrots, onion, celery (the classic Italian soffritto), garlic, sage and rosemary and you end up with an incredibly satisfying soup. Just add bread for sopping up the remains.

Our version opted for two beans—borlotti and cannellini, the latter added because they puree more smoothly—as well as some kale and Parmesan. The result was rich enough that we didn’t even need the pancetta (nobody would mind if you added some with the soffritto).
Whether you cap off the meal with some tiramisù is up to you. I’d likely just have seconds of the soup.

JM Hirsch

J.M. Hirsch is a James Beard Award-winning food and travel writer and editorial director of Christopher Kimball's Milk Street. He is the former national food editor for The Associated Press and has written six books, including “Freezer Door Cocktails: 75 Cocktails That Are Ready When You Are.”