Recipe: Ribollita

While traveling in Europe over the Summer we had some AMAZING food. Really we didn't have a bad meal but out of all the food we ate in all the cities we went the Florentine cuisine in Italy was to die for!  Literally every dish was mouth watering.  The steak and potatoes were simple yet fantastic.  Florence is known for its cuisine that is unlike any other parts of Italy.  It is very down home and the famous Florentine soups didn't disappoint.  My favorite Florentine soup was ribollita.  It's a bread soup made with all the remains at the end of the week.  Although it does sort of have a set recipe the theory is that most of these things are items all households have.  Bread that is going stale is set to use and vegetables that maybe aren't as fresh make a great stew base.  This would make a great vegetarian only dish and is a great way to waste NOTHING!  I have craved this since leaving Florence a couple months ago and as soon as I had it I made sure the waiter told me the name and how to spell is so I could find a recipe and make once home.  I looked at several different recipes on different websites before setting out to make my own.  I didn't go by any set recipe I just used what ingredients spoke to me through my research of ribollita.  The main thing that makes ribollita is the bread, tomatoes, white beans, cabbage, and kale in my opinion.  I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

What you'll need:

1/4 pound bacon or pancetta (I used bacon)

2 jugs of chicken stock equal to about 6 cups

1 large onion

4 stalks of celery

1/2 of a large cabbage or about 4 cups

2 cups carrots

Garlic

1 28 oz can of tomatoes

3 cans of great Northern beans

3 stalks of kale

Basil

Red pepper

Black pepper

Fresh bread

What to do:

Steps 1 - 4

Chop bacon into small pieces and process onion in food process.  Start the sauce/cooking process in a large stock post.  I used my Dutch oven.  When the onion and bacon started sticking I added a cup of stock and the garlic.  I gradually added the stock a cup at a time to allow the vegetables to cook through and release their flavor.   I cooked the bacon, onions, and garlic well before adding more vegetables.  Next add the celery, carrots, chopped cabbage, and roughly chopped kale.  I used my food processor for the celery and the carrots to get a finer cut. 

Steps 5 - 8

Drain 1 1/2 cans of the white beans and puree.  Add puree to pot.  Drain remaining beans and keep all the juice.  Add drained whole beans.  With juice add chicken stock to make a total of 8 cups of liquid.  I had already used about 4 cups of broth in the cooking process and I had about 1 cup of bean juice so added an additional 3 cups of broth.  Mix well and continue to cook on medium.

Steps 9 - 12

Add 1 large can of tomatoes and juice from can.  Mix well and continue to cook.  While the mixture is simmering chop your bread into medium to small squares.  I used the whole wheat homemade bread that had dried out and other recipes that I saw called for sourdough but the whole point of ribollita is using fresh bread that is losing its freshness so really I feel like any fresh bread will work.  The whole wheat bread did give the soup a different taste but it wasn't a bad taste.  I will try to do a whiter bread in the future. Add chopped bread into pot and stir well.  At this point I turned my burner off and covered by pot and just let the soup sit for a bit to allow the bread to soak up the juices and break down a bit. 

Serve while hot!  I know this dish will be a leftover winner as well since the bread will soak up more and gain more flavor as it sits and is reheated like chili. 

What are your favorite dishes from your travels?