Refreshing lettuce soup recipe (from my grandmother's notebook)

Recently I've discovered the notebook of my grandmother. It's full of incredible, hand written, almost lost recipes from the past. I said to myself: why don't I try those recipes? Maybe something curious mighty come out! As a matter of fact the refreshing lettuce soup is one of those great and sadly forgotten - at least for me - ideas.

Ingredients for the lettuce soup

• 5 or 6 bushes of lettuce (not the Roman one);
• 1 onion;
• 1 leek;
• some bacon (at will, don't exaggerate);
• oil (extra virgin olive oil, as always);
• broth, flavoured with chicken or vegetarian.

Preparation

Clean the lettuce, by removing the external leaves, always too green. Then remove the back  - I mean the though part at the bottom. Wash the remaining leaves carefully under fresh water and cut them into strips.

Pick up a pan and fill it with a generous portion of oil plus the sliced onion, the leek and the bacon. Turn on the fire and brown them until they turn golden.

In the meanwhile prepare the broth. The stock-cube is perfect if you don't want to waste too much time.

Now pour the broth over the compound previously mixed and add the lettuce leaves cut into strips. Add some salt according to your taste and let it boil for 20 minutes.

Sample it once in a while; when you feel it's ready, put out the fire: the lettuce soup is ready.

Before pouring it into soup plates I suggest to toast some slices of bread, spread with some olive oil.

The lettuce soup can even be served cold as a refreshing dish.