Boiled-again-soup (Ribollita)
This delicious soup is called "ribollita", in Norwegian "cooked again", because it was originally made from leftovers from yesterday's vegetable soup, which was reheated with day-old bread and a little extra olive oil on top.
Ribollita is originally a peasant soup from the fabulous region of Tuscany.
It is a typical vegetable-based Tuscan soup, which is perfect in winter. It warms the heart and body.
In the old days, it was traditional to prepare ribollita on Friday to eat it the following days.
There are a few different variations of this soup around Tuscany, but everyone agrees on 2 things:
- to be called "ribollita" it must contain two types of cabbage: savoy cabbage and black cabbage and white beans (cannellini)
- you must not use canned beans
It is best to make everything from scratch... as always, the taste is both incredibly good and inviting.
In some varieties, they add pork rennet to make the soup more palatable. Why not?
This soup is even better if made the day before serving.
Diff: 1
Preparation: 25' + 8-10 hours for soaking
Wine: Vernaccia or Chianti
Ingredients for 6 persons:
- 300 g savoy cabbage
- 250 g black cabbage
- 250 g dried white beans
- 150 g ripe tomatoes or passata
- 2 potatoes
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celeriac
- 1 garlic clove
- ½ bunch of parsley leaves
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 3 sprigs thyme
- salt, freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil plus for drizzling
- 6 slices of day-old country bread
This is what you do:
Soak the beans the night before and leave them in water overnight.
Let the beans drain the next day.
Throw away the water the beans have been in and put them in a pot with new water. Put the lid on and let them cook for 1 hour.
When the beans are done, set them aside, but do not discard the cooking water.
Rinse and cut the savoy cabbage into strips. Rinse and cut the leaves from the stems of the black cabbage, because they are hard and cut them into strips.
Rinse the celery, peel and cut the carrot and potatoes into small cubes.
Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
Rinse the parsley leaves and shake off the water and finely chop the leaves.
Rinse the rosemary and thyme and pick the needles off the stem.
Pour the olive oil into a large pot. Let the carrot, celery, onion and parsley simmer on a low heat for a few minutes.
Mix in the tomatoes and stir well.
Stir in the cabbage strips, potatoes, rosemary and thyme.
Add the stock from the beans and bring the soup to a boil. Turn down to a medium-high heat and let the vegetables cook under the lid until they are tender.
Meanwhile, blend half of the white beans with an immersion blender. Set them aside.
When the vegetables for the soup are tender, mix a third of them.
Mix the soup, the white beans and the cream of white beans in the pot and let the soup cook for about 10 more minutes. Remember to stir occasionally.
Taste the soup with salt and pepper.
Place a slice of bread on each plate and ladle the soup over it.
Drizzle over the olive oil and serve.