Ribollita is a Tuscan white bean soup that is thickened with day-old bread. Full of flavorful greens, it is a scrumptious, comforting meal in a bowl.
Ribollita, a traditional Tuscan soup, is the definition of a scrumptious meal made with easy elements. We’re speaking actually easy—this flavorful Italian soup was initially a strategy to stretch leftovers. It was made by reheating bean and vegetable soup and including day-old bread to thicken it. In reality, ribollita means “reboiled.”
My ribollita recipe doesn’t begin with leftovers. However within the Italian custom, it does ship wealthy taste with fundamental elements. I start by sautéing onion, carrot, and celery in a beneficiant glug of olive oil. Then, I add garlic, recent rosemary, and a splash of white wine. When the wine cooks down, tomatoes, beans, broth, and a Parmesan rind go into the pot. All of it simmers collectively in order that the flavors can develop, after which I end the soup with Tuscan kale and cubes of bread. Tip: Serve the soup with extra toasted bread cubes (aka croutons!) on high for crunch.
This ribollita recipe is savory, hearty, and comforting. To me, it’s the proper chilly climate meal. I hope you like it too!
Ribollita Components
Right here’s what you’ll must make this ribollita recipe:
- Bread, after all! When you’ve got a hunk of stale bread in your counter, now’s the time to make use of it! In case you don’t, comply with the directions within the recipe under for toasting recent bread. I like to recommend utilizing ciabatta, nation bread, or good crusty sourdough.
- Onion, carrot, and celery – These greens create the fragrant base of the soup, often called a soffritto in Italian. You’ll sauté them in olive oil earlier than including the opposite elements. Tip: For a scrumptious variation on this recipe, strive utilizing fennel as an alternative of celery. Its anise-like taste provides nice complexity to the soup!
- Garlic – It deepens the soup’s savory taste.
- Recent rosemary – For woodsy, citrusy taste. Not a rosemary individual? Use recent thyme as an alternative.
- Vegetable broth – Make selfmade vegetable inventory, or use store-bought.
- Dry white wine and diced tomatoes – They make the broth tangy and vibrant.
- Beans – You possibly can’t make Tuscan bean soup with out beans! I like to make use of creamy white beans, akin to cannellini beans, however cooked cranberry beans work properly too.
- Kale – Any selection works right here, however Tuscan kale, additionally referred to as lacinato kale or cavolo nero, is particularly scrumptious.
- Parmesan cheese – Simmer a Parmesan rind within the soup so as to add wealthy, nutty taste, and serve with grated Parmesan on high. In case you’re vegetarian, make sure you search for a model made with vegetarian enzymes (BelGioioso makes a superb one). In case you’re vegan, be happy to skip it.
- And salt and pepper – To make all of the flavors pop!
Discover the entire recipe with measurements under.
Easy methods to Make Ribollita
In case you’re beginning with recent bread, step one on this recipe is toasting it. Minimize or tear it into roughly 1-inch items, and unfold it in an excellent layer on a big baking sheet. Bake in a 350°F oven for 10 to twenty minutes, or till dry. As in comparison with recent bread, the dry bread will higher take in taste and meld into the soup.
Subsequent, prepare dinner the soffritto. Warmth the olive oil in a big pot or Dutch oven over medium warmth. Add the onion, carrots, celery, salt, and a number of other grinds of pepper and prepare dinner till the greens soften, 10 to fifteen minutes.
Then, simmer the soup. Stir within the garlic, rosemary, and wine adopted by the tomatoes, broth, beans, and Parmesan rind. Cowl and simmer for 20 minutes to develop the flavors.
Lastly, add the kale and bread. Uncover the soup and take away the Parmesan rind. Stir within the kale and prepare dinner till it wilts. Add half the bread and season to style, including extra bread if you happen to favor a thicker ribollita soup.
Recipe Tip
Let’s discuss bread! The extra you add to the soup, the thicker it will likely be. Ribollita will be very thick. In her cookbook Salt Fats Acid Warmth, Samin Nosrat notes that her favourite Tuscan ribollita is served on a plate!
However the consistency of your ribollita is as much as you. I like to recommend beginning with half the bread and including extra as desired.
No matter you do, make certain to save lots of among the toasted bread for serving with the soup. It provides satisfying crunch to this in any other case mushy meal!
Ladle the soup into bowls, and high with toasted bread for crunch. Drizzle with olive oil, and bathe with grated Parm. I additionally like to sprinkle purple pepper flakes on my bowl for warmth.
Get pleasure from!
Make-Forward Ribollita
This ribollita recipe is finest proper after it’s made, because the bread soaks up increasingly broth the longer it sits. When you’ve got leftovers, you’ll be able to retailer them in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days, however anticipate the bread to soak up a lot of the broth within the fridge.
If you wish to make the ribollita forward, I like to recommend protecting the bread separate till you’re able to serve. Totally put together the vegetable and bean soup, and retailer it within the fridge for as much as 3 days. While you’re able to serve, reheat the soup on the stovetop, including bread as desired to thicken it.
Extra Favourite Soup Recipes
In case you love this recipe, strive considered one of these hearty soups subsequent:
Wish to strive one other Tuscan dish? Try my panzanella recipe!
Ribollita Recipe
Serves 6
Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that is stuffed with beans and greens and thickened with bread. Made with easy elements, this traditional Italian dish is a hearty, comforting meal in a bowl.
- 8 ounces crusty sourdough bread or ciabatta bread, ideally stale, torn
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks or 1 medium fennel bulb, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly floor black pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 teaspoon chopped recent rosemary
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 1½ cups cooked cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- Parmesan rind, plus grated cheese for serving
- 1 (8-ounce) bunch lacinato kale, stemmed, leaves torn
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If utilizing recent bread, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Unfold the bread in an excellent layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10 to twenty minutes, or till dry. Put aside.
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Warmth the olive oil in a big pot or Dutch oven over medium warmth. Add the onion, celery, carrots, salt, and a number of other grinds of pepper and prepare dinner, stirring sometimes, for 10 to fifteen minutes, or till very mushy.
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Add the garlic, rosemary, and wine. Stir, then add the tomatoes, broth, beans, and Parmesan rind. Cowl and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Uncover and take away the Parmesan rind. Stir within the kale and prepare dinner for five minutes, or till wilted. Stir in half the bread and season to style. In case you like a thicker ribollita, add extra bread.
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Ladle the ribollita into bowls. High with extra bread, if desired. Serve with drizzles of olive oil and grated Parmesan.
