Ribollita

A few months ago, while wandering the cooking section of Half-Price books, I stumbled upon this gem.

This cook book has a little bit of everything (yes, it has pasta but there's so much more!). One of the recipes in particular has become a favorite in our household. It's called Ribollita. It's a fabulous, hearty Italian soup, full of vegetables and bread. It's light enough that you can have it year round without it feeling heavy in your stomach, and it'll satisfy you. Plus, for you vegetarians out there-it's meatless!

Ribollita

What You Will Need

• olive oil
• onions (you can use red, yellow, or white-whatever you have on hand)
• carrots
• celery
• garlic cloves
• thyme, parsley, salt and pepper
• cannellini beans 
• canned diced tomatoes (or you can use 3-4 fresh tomatoes)
• vegetable stock
• kale
• crunchy bread (French bread or ciabatta bread works well)

I like to start this recipe by prepping all of my vegetables. I chop my carrots, celery, and onions on the course side so it gives the dish more of a rustic quality. If you like, you can certainly chop your veggies finer. I use 3 medium carrots, 3 stalks of celery, and 1 large onion.

Celery tends to be wider at the bottom. I like to run my knife in the middle of the celery stalk about 2/3 of the length. Then I fold the two halves together and chop. The result, evenly chopped celery. And no, I didn't cut my finger on the knife. That was from a stapler accident at work. Don't ask.

Once you get all of that chopped, you can put a large skillet on the stove and begin to heat it. Once the pan is ready, pour about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, and let it heat.

Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the heated oil and stir. Let the veggies cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes. You don't want the veggies to burn, but you do want them to cook down a bit. Add 3 chopped cloves of garlic, and the spices. You will need roughly 2 tablespoons of the parsely and thyme, and then 1-2 teaspoons of the salt and pepper. Mix well.

 
While the veggies are cooking, you can go ahead and prep your tomatoes. If you are using canned dices tomatoes (which I normally use), make sure they are not flavored with any extra seasonings in the can. If you are using fresh tomatoes, I've offered some guidelines below for their prep.

To start with, make sure your tomatoes are washed. Slice each tomato in half and set aside.

Using a large soup spoon, gently scoop out the seeds and excess liquid of each half.

If you have kids, this is a great way to get them involved in the kitchen. There nothing sharp about this step. Just a little messy which can be fun!

 Cut the tomato into small pieces and set aside to add to the soup later.

Using canned cannellini beans, rinse the beans well under cold water, making sure all the starch has been removed from them.

Add the beans and the diced tomatoes to the veggie mixture.

I like to mix my veggies all together before I add the vegetable stock.

Add 2 1/2 cups of vegetable broth to the pan and cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Beautiful and delicious.

Wash your kale and rip it into small pieces (about 2 inches a piece) and set aside to add to the soup when the 20 minutes has passed. If you don't like kale, you can use arugula or spinach. I've played around with all three before with this recipe and they all work nicely with the flavors.

Take your bread, and slice it into thin slices.

mmmmm...bread

 Then, using your fingers, tear the bread into small chunks. (This would be another step the kids can help with!) Be mindful not to add too much bread to the soup! If you do, you will soak up all the delicious liquid and flavor and will have a pretty sad excuse for Ribollita. I know this from experience sadly.

After the soup has simmered for at least 20 minutes, add the kale and the bread to the soup mixture.

I just realized this pic doesn't show the bread.

 Let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Again, don't add too much bread! Better yet, add it in a little bit at a time and use your best judgement. Adjust the seasoning to taster. It's okay to add a little more salt and pepper if you want! Enjoy!