Ribollita
SERVES 6–8
We always had a lot of leftovers, and this is kind of a green leaf soup that also uses stale bread. This is actually one of the few dishes that is better if you reheat it the next day, after you let the bread soak in and add extra stock. We call it soup but it’s not soup. It’s very thick, but as I said, in Italy unless it’s pasta or rice we call it a soup.
1 lb. dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight in water
1 onion, sliced (plus 1 red onion, sliced—optional)
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 plum tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1 bunch Swiss chard, roughly chopped
1 bunch black kale, roughly chopped
2 leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped
¼ head Savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
Salt and pepper
8 1-inch-thick slices of stale homemade white bread toasted in the oven at 375°F for about 20 minutes (if you don’t have homemade, any crusty white bread will do)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Place the beans and their soaking liquid, plus about 2 more gallons of water, into a large pot over medium heat.
Meanwhile, in another large pot, caramelize the onion in the olive oil. When the onion is golden, slowly add the tomatoes and all the other vegetables and cook for 10 minutes or until they are softened. Now add all the cooking water left in the bean pot and half of the cooked beans.
Using a fork or a potato masher, smash the remaining beans, then add them to the soup.
Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook over low heat for 2 hours, covered with a lid.
Tear the bread slices into chunks and after the soup has cooked for 2 hours, add them to the pot and stir well. Simmer the soup for an additional 15 minutes, stirring as needed (it should be quite thick).
Turn off the heat and let the soup rest for half an hour with the lid on, then drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.