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Cuccìa

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Prep Time: 
1 hour 45 minutes
Number of Servings: 
Serves 4
Recipe Source: 
Della Medicina by Lisa Fazio ($24.99, Healing Arts Press, 2024)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup wheat berries—traditionally, farro is used
  • 1 cup lentils or other legume, such as chickpeas or fava beans
  • Olive oil
  • 1 to 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1⁄2 to 1 tsp salt
  • 1⁄2 tsp pepper
  • Spices for seasoning:
    • fennel seed
    • rosemary
    • turmeric
    • cumin
    • nutmeg
    • cinnamon
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste or 1⁄4 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Splash of red wine
  • Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

  1. Cover wheat with about 1 inch of water.
  2. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for about an hour or until the grain opens and is soft. The cooking time will depend on the variety of wheat you have and whether you soaked it overnight.
  3. Cook the lentils separately by putting 1⁄2 cup of lentils and about 1 cup of water or vegetable broth in a saucepan. (You may want to add a little more water or broth depending on the consistency you want.) Bring to a boil then turn down heat and simmer until soft.
  4. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a separate medium pan, add chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and any other desired spices.
  5. Add in tomato paste or diced tomatoes, lemon juice, a splash of red wine, and the lentils and warm all together.
  6. Add lentil mixture to the wheat, stir together, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using, and enjoy.

Notes

  • While wheat berries and farro do cook fairly quickly, it is often recommended to soak them overnight to speed up the cooking time even more.
Nutrition Info: 
Made with farro, lentils, and tomato paste: 364 Calories, 3 g Protein, 13 g Carbohydrates, 19 g Protein, 0 mg Cholesterol, 65 g Carbohydrates, 6 g Total sugars (0 g Added sugars), 11 g Fiber, 5 g Total fat (1 g sat), 271 mg Sodium, ★★★★★ Folate, ★★★★ Vitamin B1 (thiamine), Phosphorus, ★★★ Vitamin B6, Iron, ★★ Vitamin B3 (niacin), Magnesium, Zinc, ★ Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), Vitamin E, Potassium

Building upon the in-depth folk wisdom she learned from her immigrant grandparents as well as from local healers in Southern Italy, second-generation Italian-American and experienced herbalist Lisa Fazio shares herbal traditions and practices from the Italian diaspora and reveals how working with traditional plant medicines can help us connect to ancestral traditions for deep inner healing.

Discussing the relationship between Italian folk medicine and Italian witchcraft, she explores kitchen magic and protective magic, including practices for warding off the adverse effects of the evil eye.

Sharing valuable and nearly forgotten teachings from the Southern Italian herbal tradition, the author also shows how her journey to reconnect with her family's healing practices offers guidance for anyone seeking to reconnect with their ancestors.

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Learn About The Tradition

Cuccìa appears in many forms across the Mediterranean. Read up to learn more!

Whole Grain Traditions

a bowl of eastern European grain porridge

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Contributor

Lisa Fazio

Lisa Fazio is a clinical herbalist, practitioner of plant spirit medicine and flower essence therapy, and the founder of The Root Circle, a plant medicine educational center.

Trained in traditional Western herbalism, Western astrology, and the folk ways of her Italian immigrant family, she also has an academic background in psychology and ethnobotany and has also done master's level studies in chemistry, botany, and environmental history.

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