La ribollita

Ribollita is a famous Tuscan soup, its name means “re-boiled” because it was originally a peasant dish, a leftover bean soup or a minestrone that the day after would become something different by adding few more ingredients and stale Tuscan bread. There are different versions of this soup but as much as I checked three ingredients are always present which are Tuscan kale, cannellini beans and stale Tuscan bread: three staples of the cuisine of the region.

Tuscan kale also called lacinato kale or dinosaur kale has a distinct flavor that gives this soup part of its character, it wouldn’t be ribollita without it. We planted it in our garden to have it always handy. It grows very easily and we have it all winter long. Cannellini are small white beans from Tuscany, they have a delicate and nutty flavor and if you want to make this soup in the right way you have to find them dry and soak them overnight.
Tuscan bread also called “pane sciocco” means “without salt” which also means “stupid” in Italian. It’s a rustic bread made only with water and flour, sourdough and no salt. I assure you it tastes delicious and you won’t miss the absence of salt.

Ribollita is not a laborious soup is a rustic soup it’s a soup that needs time, its flavors needs to slowly blend together to reach its comforting taste and its right consistency. I promise, you won’t regret it.

Ingredients

10 oz. dry cannellini beans
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 stalks of celery finely chopped
3 medium carrots finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped leeks
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 ripe tomato
3-1/2 oz. Savoy cabbage
3-1/2 oz. Tuscan kale
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 sprig of thyme
olive oil
8 slices Tuscan dry bread*
pinch of red hot pepper
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Soak the beans overnight.
2. Sauté the onion, celery, leeks and carrot in 1/3 cup olive oil. Add the sprig of rosemary, but wrap it with thread first so the needles don’t end up in the soup.
3. Once they’ve been sautéed for about 5 minutes add one tomato skinned and chopped.
4. After a few more minutes add the beans and two quarts of water and let it simmer over a low heat for about 2 hours. Add salt and pepper about 20 minutes before the beans are cooked.
5. Once cooked remove half the beans and broth and blend them or pass them through a vegetable ricer.
6. Now prepare the cabbage by cleaning it and slicing it thinly. The same for the Tuscan Kale, but with the kale you should remove the hard rib of the leaf too.
7. Sauté finely chopped thyme, the garlic and a small amount of oil for a few minutes. Then add the cabbage and kale and continue cooking for a few more minutes.
8. Add the beans and broth that you blended and cook for about 30 minutes.
9. Cut the bread into pieces and add it to the soup, drizzle with olive oil too.
10. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes mixing occasionally. This is a good time to check the salt and pepper too.
11. Add the rest of the beans and broth, a handful of chopped basil and a pinch of red hot pepper. Mix in well and then set aside to cool.
12. Serve warm with a bit of olive oil.

Notes