RECIPES

RIBOLlITA

Traditional Tuscan peasant winter vegetable and bread soup

In Italian “ribollita” literally means reboiled. It is, in fact, a vegetable soup, thickened with bread and reheated every time it is consumed. This is a dish that Italians prepare ahead of time for the whole week and heat up as they need it. It’s also delicious cold, straight from the refrigerator, especially during the summertime.

A very crucial ingredient here is the bread. Tuscan bread is unsalted and very dense, and can absorb the liquid without becoming mushy. For this preparation we use bread that is three or four days old. Ideally, slice the bread a day before the preparation so that it can dry overnight. Although this is technically a winter dish, you can prepare it in every season by changing the ingredients with those that are available.

Ingredients

1 white onion, finely chopped

6 bunches of tuscan kale, finely chopped

1 small savoy cabbage, finely chopped

6 celery stocks, finely chopped

6 carrots, finely chopped

1 butternut squash, finely chopped

6 canned whole peeled tomatoes, finely chopped

1 lb cooked cannellini beans (see “how to cook chickpeas and beans” recipe)

1 lb sliced, hard Tuscan bread

1/2 cup x.v. olive oil

2 cups of “sfumata” with water (see SFUMATA DI POMODORO recipe below )

salt

fresh ground pepper

“SFUMATA DI POMODORO”

This is a tomato paste base that is used to give color and flavor to many preparations.

It can be done adding water to the ingredients or wine depending on its use. This recipe yields two cups of sfumata.

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic, peeled

2 sprigs of rosemary, broken in small pieces

1 small bunch of sage, chopped

2 tbsp of tomato paste

2 tbsp of x.v. olive oil

Preparation

Sfumata with water

In a small pot, heat 1/2 cup of olive oil. Add the garlic, sage and the rosemary. Cook at low heat until the garlic is golden in color. Add the tomato paste. Stir well the ingredients together. Cook for 1 minute and add 2 cups of hot water. Reach the boiling point and turn of the heat. With a strainer, filter the sfumata into a container.

Preparation

Prepare the “sfumata” and set aside.

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and add the chopped vegetables in the order of the ingredients list in 5 minute increments. Onions should cook for 5 minutes before adding the kale. The kale should cook with the onions for 5 minutes before adding the cabbage...and so on and so forth. Carrots, squash and tomatoes can be added together, as they require the same amount of cooking time.

Stir thoroughly and add enough water to cover the vegetables by about 2 inches.

Add the 2 cups of “sfumata”

Cover the pot and let it cook for about 2 hours.

Heat up your cannellini beans to a boil and then add them to the pot with the vegetables.

At this point you should also add the sliced bread. Let it soak for an hour.

Cool it down and store it the refrigerator.

Reboil the amount that you want to serve, whether it’s right away or a few days later, and present it with fresh ground pepper and a drizzle of x.v. olive oil.