Tuscan Ribollita Soup Recipe

This incredibly easy to make ribollita soup recipe is loaded with greens, vegetables, and beans that is served with crusty rustic bread.

It’s indigenous to the Tuscany region in Italy, which is on the west coast of the country and up towards the top. It was really a peasant recipe as it utilizes crusty leftover bread and leftover minestrone soup. The term Ribolitta literally means re-boiled, and this recipe in its origin uses up everything in the kitchen, so nothing goes to waste.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 1-pound cannellini beans
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 peeled and medium diced medium-sized yellow onions
• 4 medium diced stalks of celery
• 4 peeled and medium diced carrots
• 4 finely minced cloves of garlic
• 2 bunches of thickly sliced Lacinato kale
• ½ sliced savoy cabbage
• 15 ounce can hand-crushed whole peeled tomatoes
• 64 ounces vegetable stock
• sea salt and pepper to taste
• slices of old crusty rustic bread

Serves 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Procedures:

1. Add the beans to a container and cover with until it is about 4 inches over the top of the beans. Cover and set at room temperature overnight.
2. In the morning drain the beans and add to a medium-size pot and cover with water until the beans are covered by about 2 inches along with a sprig of rosemary.
3. Cook the beans for about 30-35 minutes over low to medium heat or until tender.
4. Remove the sprig of rosemary and take ½ of the beans and the liquid and put them into a blender and puree them until smooth. Set aside and keep the other ½ of the beans in the liquid warm.
5. In the meantime, add the olive oil to a large pot over low to medium heat and cook the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender.
6. Next, add in the kale, cabbage, cooked beans in water, pureed beans, tomatoes, and vegetable stock, and cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes over low to medium heat or until the kale and cabbage are tender.
7. Season the soup well with salt and pepper.
8. To serve, place some bread in a serving bowl and pour some of the soup over top. Garnish with optional shredded parmesan cheese and chopped fresh parsley and rosemary.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: You can make this soup up to 1 day ahead of time and it is advised to keep the bread separate from the soup until it is ready to be served.

How to Store: Keep covered and keep the soup separated from the bread and in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. This will freeze in the exact same manner for up to 3 months. Be sure to thaw for 1 day in the refrigerator until it is thawed.

How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of soup into a small size saucepot and head up over low heat until hot. Likewise, you can heat it up in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl.

Please feel free to use any homemade or store-bought bread from the bakery. Please do not use sliced bagged bread from the bread aisle as it will totally scale down the flavor of this soup.

For a bean alternative, you can use drained and rinsed canned cannellini beans or boil water and cover the dried beans and let stand for 1 hour.