Ribollita – Tuscany’s Famous Soup

- Vegetarian
Why we love it:
Ingredients
- 2 cups Cannellini Beans (dried beans here - see notes if using canned)
- 1 Onion (medium, small dice)
- 2 ribs Celery (small dice)
- 1 Carrot (small dice)
- 3 cloves Garlic (finally minced)
- 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 5 cups Water
- 11⁄2 teaspoons Kosher Salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 Parmesan Cheese (rind)
- 1 Roma Tomato (small dice)
- 2 Russet Potatos (large - peeled and diced in ⅓” cubes)
- 1 bunch Lacinato Kale (washed and stems removed)
- 1⁄2 head Savoy Cabbage (or green cabbage, core removed and cut into 1-2” squares)
- 2 pinchs Fresh Thyme (I wouldn't use dried, it's too intense. Just use 1 sprig or so)
- 2 Zucchinis (about ½ a pound or so)
- 1⁄2 pound Italian Bread (crusty - sliced including the crusts)
- Black Pepper (to taste)
Cooking Instructions
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1. BEANS
If you can soak the beans overnight in lots of water, please do that! On the counter at room temperature is ok.
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2. SOFFRITTO (Just a fancy word for diced onions, celery, carrots, and garlic.)
Dice the onions, celery, carrot. Mince the garlic.
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and when its shimmering, add the diced veggies.
When you start to smell the veggies, turn heat down to medium and stir occasionally for about 4 - 5 minutes.
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3. LIQUID + TOMATOES
When the veggies are translucent and the pot is gently steaming, add 5 cups of water and 1 heaping teaspoon of salt and the parmesan rind (if using). Stir to combine.
Dice the tomato, add to the soup. The skin and juices can go in as well.
Peel and dice the potato, add it to the soup.Bring the pot to a boil, you can cover it all the way or partially to help this happen more quickly. When it does boil, stir well and turn heat to medium and maintain a full simmer (ie the pot has a bubble appearing and popping constantly but not splattering or disrupting the entire surface).
Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are mostly tender.
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4. GREENS
While its simmering, prep the greens. Wash the kale and remove the stems by pinching the stem between your forefinger and thumb and slide it along to pull off the leaves. Stack the leaves and chop into ½” long strips, then cut in ½ (in line with where the stem ran) to make approximate squares.
Chop the cabbage in ½ and remove the outermost leaf if its browned or dry. Cut in ½ again, to make a quarter of the cabbage and expose the root. You can now make a triangular cut on the quarter pieces to remove the core but not waste the edible leaves.
Lay each quarter flat and chop into squares.
Add the kale and cabbage to the soup, stir to combine. Add the thyme as well.
Boil soup for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender. Stir occasionally during this time and be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to keep the beans from sticking.
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5. ADD THE BEANS
When the beans are completely tender, puree about ½ of them with about ½ of the cooking liquid. Stir this puree and the remaining whole beans, and all of the cooking liquid into the soup pot. Return to a simmer.
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6. ZUCCHINI
Wash and dice the zucchini. Add it in.
Cook for a final 10 minutes or so. Taste and add more salt if needed.
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7. REBOIL + BREAD
You can either serve it now. Plate a slice or cubes of bread in a large bowl and pour the soup over it - or to truly make "Ribollita" - that is RE-BOILED soup, cool it completely and plan to eat it later.
If you’ve made the soup ahead, bring to back to a boil and stir in the bread cubes or slices. Add they heat and soak up the broth, use a spoon to break the pieces apart.
When hot, ladle in bowls. Top with a swirl of high quality olive oil (if its not really good olive oil, just skip it) and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper if you like.
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8. SERVING
When hot, ladle in bowls. Top with a swirl of high quality olive oil (if its not really good olive oil, just skip it) and lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese and black pepper if you like.
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