Ribollita Tuscan Minestrone Recipes

RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pancetta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onion is golden brown and the pancetta is crisp, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved. Add tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Add the spinach, beans, herbs, stock, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Drizzle the ciabatta halves with olive oil. Toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with the whole garlic clove. Place the toasts in the serving bowls and ladle the soup over the toasts. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.

MY FAVOURITE RIBOLLITA (LA MIA RIBOLLITA PREFERITA)

Steps:

• Add your fresh or dried and soaked beans to a pan of water with the bay leaf - this will help to flavour the beans and soften their skins. Squash the tomato, peel the potato and add both to the pan. Cook until the beans are tender - taste one to check they're nice and soft. Dried beans can take up to an hour, but check fresh ones after 25 minutes. Drain (reserving about half a glass of the cooking water), and discard the bay leaf, tomato and potato.
• Peel and finely chop your onions, carrots and garlic. Trim and finely chop the celery.
• Heat a saucepan with a splash of olive oil and add the vegetables to the pan with the ground fennel seeds and chilli. Sweat very slowly on a low heat with the lid just ajar for around 15 to 20 minutes until soft, but not brown.
• Add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer for a few minutes.
• Add the cooked and drained beans with a little of the water they were cooked in, and bring back to the boil.
• Finely slice the cavolo nero (stalks and all) and add to the pan - it will look like loads, but don't worry as it will cook down.
• Tear the bread into chunks, then moisten with a little of the cooking water and stir it in too. The soup should be thick but not dry, so add a little more cooking water if you need to loosen it. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes - you want to achieve a silky, thick soup.
• Season the ribollita with sea salt and black pepper, and stir in 4 good lugs of good-quality Tuscan extra virgin olive oil before serving to give it a glossy velvety texture.
• Delicious served on a cold winter's day with lots and lots of Chianti!

ITALIAN RIBOLLITA (VEGETABLE AND BREAD SOUP)

Steps:

• Place the olive oil in a deep pan and heat over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, and cook until transparent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, and leek. Stir and cook 5 minutes more. Pour in the hot water to cover the vegetables. Stir in the Swiss chard, Savoy cabbage, and kale. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 1 hour.
• Place 1 can of beans in a blender or food processor bowl. Blend until smooth. Stir pureed beans into the vegetable mixture along with the second can of beans. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato puree.
• Prepare the soup by layering slices of bread with the vegetable mixture in a casserole or soup dish. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• To serve the soup, place in a pot, and reheat over medium heat. Serve hot.

TUSCAN BEAN SOUP (RIBOLLITA)

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat; saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add zucchini and cook until slightly softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir vegetable stock, cannellini beans, chopped tomatoes, chicken stock, and pesto into vegetable mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat; saute spinach until wilted, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauteed spinach into each serving bowl; ladle soup over spinach.

RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cover the beans with cold water by 1-inch and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Drain the beans and place them in a large pot with 8 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the beans are tender. Set the beans aside to cool in their liquid.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large stockpot. Add the pancetta and onions and cook over medium-low heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, 1 tablespoon of salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium-low heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes with their puree, the cabbage, if using, the kale, and basil and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 7 to 10 minutes.
• Drain the beans, reserving their cooking liquid. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree half of the beans with a little of their liquid. Add to the stockpot, along with the remaining whole beans. Pour the bean cooking liquid into a large measuring cup and add enough chicken stock to make 8 cups. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
• Add the bread to the soup and simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve hot in large bowls sprinkled with Parmesan and drizzled with olive oil.

RIBOLLITA (HEARTY TUSCAN BEAN, BREAD, AND VEGETABLE STEW) RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat with garlic. Cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant and very lightly golden. Add onion, leek, carrots, squash, turnip, and celery and cook, stirring, until slightly softened but not browned, about 5 minutes.
• Add enough water to slightly cover vegetables (about 6 cups; 1.5L) along with kale and bouquet garnis and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Lower heat to maintain simmer and cook until vegetables are very tender, about 25 minutes.
• Stir in beans and their cooking liquid (or 1 cup water if using canned beans). Add bread, stir well, and simmer until bread is very soft and breaking down, about 15 minutes. Add water, 1/2 cup at a time, if soup becomes too thick and dry.
• Season with salt and pepper. The soup can be served at varying consistencies: more wet and broth-y, like a thick, chunky soup, or cooked down until thickened like a porridge. Once reduced to a thick porridge, you can ladle some of it into a small (8-inch) nonstick skillet with 1 tablespoon oil and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until it coalesces into a dense mass; it will eventually take the shape of a pancake. (If your flipping skills are good, you can flip it to serve it browned side up.) Slide it onto a plate. To serve at any consistency, drizzle with fresh olive oil and top with freshly ground black pepper and grated cheese (optional).

RIBOLLITA (TUSCAN MINESTRONE)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large pot and sauté the onion and leek together over low heat until they begin to caramelize; add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute; add all the remaining vegetables; season to taste and stir to mix; cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the vegetables have reduced in volume by half; stir again and add broth; bring to a boil and then lower the heat; add the tomato paste and stir to dissolve; cover and cook the soup for 1 hour; add the beans.
• The next day, reheat soup gently and stir in the bread cubes until the bread has turned into a mush (this takes about 10-15 minutes); if the soup is too thick, thin with more stock to suit your taste.
• Serve at table with freshly-cracked black pepper, grated parmesan cheese, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.

RIBOLLITA (TUSCAN MINESTRONE)

Steps:

• Rinse and sort through the beans to remove any pebbles.
• Put beans in a large bowl; cover with 3 cups boiling water; soak beans for 1 hour.
• Drain beans in a colander and reserve.
• Heat olive oil in a large heavy pot over med-high heat.
• When hot, add the onion, leek, carrot, and celery; saute until just softened, 3-4 minutes.
• Add in minced garlic and rosemary; saute 1 minute.
• Add 8 cups water, the reserved beans, tomatoes, cabbage, and 1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt.
• Bring to a boil; decrease heat, and cook at a simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
• Add in potatoes, zucchini, and chard; simmer covered, until the potatoes and zucchini are tender and the chard is wilted, for 20-25 minutes.
• Taste soup and season with salt, as needed.
• When ready to serve, lightly toast the bread slices, then rub each piece on both sides with a cut garlic clove.
• Either place 1 bread slice in the bottom of 6 soup bowls and ladle soup over OR ladle soup into 6 bowls and top each with a bread slice.
• Garnish each serving with Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.