A bowl of velvety soup warms and fills you up and is like a big cuddle. Soups made from grains, legumes, vegetables and wild greens have been on the staple peasant menu for centuries when there was little else available. It was probably a very healthy way to eat even if it did leave them yearning for meat and fish. Beans have always been referred to as poor man’s meat, because they are a rich source of protein. Now pasta is such a big part of the Mediterranean diet, there is a choice of soup or pasta as primi piatti, first course.