Ribollita Hearty Tuscan Bread Soup Recipe

From start to finish you can have this soup on the table in under 1.5 hours and you will most likely have leftovers to reheat the next day for lunch!

Ingredients

You might have to head to the store for this one, but perhaps not because kale has gotten so popular lately that there is a chance you will have some in your fridge. The list is long but the ingredients are all inexpensive, easy to find and delicious when combined.

• Celery (1 stick) – wash, remove any strings and chop very finely to use to create the “soffritto” base of the soup.
• Onion (1) – any color of onion will do, our preference is for a mild golden onion chopped very finely.
• Carrots (400 grams) – a super important part of the soffritto is the carrot. It should be chopped very finely, you can even use a food processor and put the celery, onion and carrot together and blend into a very fine mixture without turning it into mush.
• Tuscan kale (300 grams) – also called Tuscan cabbage or black kale, this is the curly dark kind with lots of texture on the leaves.
• Savoy cabbage (1 small head) – rinsed and thinly sliced.
• Cannellini beans (500 grams) – use cooked, canned cannellini beans or another small, mild-flavored white bean.
• Potatoes (500 grams) – any kind of potato is fine for this recipe, chopped into smallish cubes.
• Peas (200 grams) – frozen peas have the best flavor and color after fresh peas and can be added directly to the recipe without defrosting.
• Zucchini (4-5 medium size) – dark or light-skinned zucchini is fine, just be sure to remove the seeds if they are large or there is extra flesh around them.
• Tuscan bread (500 grams) – besides being from Tuscany, the main characteristic of this bread is that it doesn’t have salt. The recipe calls for day-old bread that is dry and stale and will absorb less moisture and stay intact when immersed in the soup.
• Tomato puree (300 grams) – this can be substituted with 3 peeled and diced tomatoes or a very small can of canned tomatoes.
• Fresh parsley (as desired) – feel free to add your own favorite herbs such as bay leaf.
• Extra virgin olive oil (for soffritto and for drizzling) – the absolute queen of the Italian kitchen, you will need some seriously good extra virgin olive oil and don’t forget to drizzle it on top.
• Kosher salt (as needed) – you can use to taste.
• Black pepper (as desired) – add pepper or even crushed red pepper flakes if you would like something a bit spicier.
• Parmesan cheese + Parmesan rind (optional) – some people like to add a dusting of grated Parmesan cheese on top. Others like to add the Parmesan rind, which has been cleaned, directly into the hot soup so that it melts.

How to make ribollita step-by-step

Whip up a rich and hearty meatless dinner tonight straight from the Tuscan peasant kitchen. Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to make it at home.

Cut the onion, celery, and carrots into small pieces to make the “soffritto” base for the soup.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and saute the onion, celery, and carrots over medium heat (photo 3) once softened, add the black kale and the savoy cabbage (photo 4).

As soon as the cabbage begins to cook, add the tomato puree or peeled tomatoes (photo 5), then the potatoes, chopped zucchini, and peas (photo 6).

Now add the cannellini beans (photo 7) and add salt, and black pepper, and adjust the seasoning as desired such as parsley, fresh thyme, bay leaf, (photo 8) and cook stirring occasionally over low heat for about 1 hour, then turn off.

Slice the day-old bread into thin slices. Place a layer of bread in the bottom of a soup tureen or a large deep bowl (photo 9). Then alternate between pouring the cooked vegetables and a layer of bread until you have filled the tureen (photo 10). You can remove the bay leaves if you added them.

Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

After resting, the soup is ready to serve. Remove a portion of the soup and serve in individual bowls with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese if desired.

Don’t forget to add a drizzle of olive oil before eating this incredible comfort food.

Expert tips for the perfect ribollita

• Use stale bread. While it may seem counterintuitive that day old bread is better than fresh bread, at least for this recipe it is certainly the case. Be sure to use a crusty, bread that is very dry, you can also lightly toast it before using it in this recipe if isn’t quite old enough. If the bread is too fresh it will be mushy and not hold up in the soup.
• Puree part of the beans. Some recipes call for mashing or pureeing the beans or doing half pureed beans and the remaining whole beans. This will give the soup a nice, creamy texture.

Variations of ribollita

• Use dried beans. Instead of starting with already cooked beans you can start with dry beans, you will need 250 grams. You will need to start by soaking them overnight. Then you should rinse them, but them in a pot covered completely by water and cook until soft. You can drain and add to your soup at the same time you would add canned beans.
• Get spicy. While not typically spicy, if you are a lover of all things hot, you can add some crushed red pepper flakes or a red pepper while cooking for a spicy variation.
• Get garlicky! Garlic lovers usually want to put it everywhere, and it actually is quite a tasty addition to ribollita so feel free to add it. We like to finely mince a clove or two and add it to the carrots and celery mixture when it is almost done sauteing.

Try other soup recipes

• Acquacotta
• Pancotto
• Authentic Italian Minestrone Soup
• Italian Bean Soup Recipe [Zuppa di Fagioli con Crostino]

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