There is nothing like a warming bowl of soup during the winter and Ribollita is definitely one of the oldest recipes of the Tuscan “poor cooking”. Poor cooking means the cooking of the post-war period when poor italian families reused the soup of the day before adding water and bread.
2 medium onions
1 rib of celery
3 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
1 rib of celery
3 cloves of garlic
4 carrots
24 ounces of beans
3 peeled tomatoes
3 peeled tomatoes
1 bunch of parsley
And a lot of vegetables! Kale, cabbage, beets, zucchini, potatoes, peas!
And a lot of vegetables! Kale, cabbage, beets, zucchini, potatoes, peas!
The first part of the recipe involves the preparation of a normal vegetable soup, where the absolute protagonist will be the cabbage, then combined with any other vegetables of your choice!
Preparation:
Boil 700 grams of beans preserving, once ready, the cooking water. Prepare in a large pot a large sauté composed of two cups of extra virgin olive oil (yes, oil is necessary!), the two onions, celery finely chopped, 3 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped 4 carrots and parsley. Sauté the garlic then add ½ cup of white wine. Then add the peeled tomatoes coarsely chopped and salt to taste. Cook over low heat for about 10 minutes and when the tomatoes are well blended add the vegetables starting with those that require longer cooking. Start with potatoes and then continue with peas, zucchini, chard, kale and black kale. Cook on low heat for an hour mixing with a ladle and adding a glass of water every time you see the vegetables begin to stick on the bottom. When the cooking is close to being completed (taste it to know that!), add all the beans (an half should be passed, the rest you can leave it whole), accompanied by their water. Then add the bread of the day before (fresh bread will melt and eventually disappear). Made into small pieces and finish cooking, mixing thoroughly. How do you know if your ribollita is successfully cooked?? There’s a trick! Put the ladle in the center of the pot: if it will remain straight without dropping, it means you did a great job!
Finally, if you want to enjoy your dish “with Tuscan style” add some slices of raw red onion, a spoon of extra-virgin olive oil and pepper, if you like it. Enjoy your meal!!