Ribollita by Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi
One of the most popular soups in Tuscany, this version uses a roughly chopped, rustic soffritto.
It is a classic peasant recipe. Serves 6
Ingredients:
200 ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, 1 chopped
100 g white onions, roughly chopped
300 g carrots, roughly chopped
300 g celery, roughly chopped
400 g courgettes, roughly chopped
300 g Savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
300 g black kale (Cavolo Nero), roughly chopped
200 g spinach, chopped
550 g potatoes, roughly chopped
100 g tomatoes, peeled and chopped
800 g cooked cannellini beans or 2 x 400 g cans
1 litre vegetable stock
1 white farmhouse loaf
extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated Pecorino cheese, to serve
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the chopped garlic and onions. Cook gently until
the onions are soft. Add the carrots and celery, and season. Cook over a low heat for a further
15 minutes until this soffritto turns golden, stirring occasionally. Once the soffritto is ready, add
the courgettes, Savoy cabbage, black kale and spinach. Leave to sweat for about 10 minutes,
then add the potatoes and tomatoes. Mash half the cannellini beans and stir into the pan.
Cook gently for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring
regularly. About 10 minutes before the end of cooking, add the remaining cannellini beans.
Cut the bread into slices and toast them in the oven at Gas Mark 3/170°C (or use the grill or
a toaster). Rub each slice with the whole garlic clove and drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil.
Place a layer of toast in the bottom of a shallow ovenproof lasagne dish and pour over some of
the soup. Repeat until all the toast and soup have been used.
Let the soup stand for a while before serving. Alternatively, the soup can be kept warm,
uncovered, in the oven for up to 15 minutes. If you put the ribollita in the oven, make sure all the
toast is covered by the soup or it will burn. Serve in warm bowls, drizzled with extra-virgin olive
oil and scattered with Pecorino.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster
