This is one of my favorite dishes - a wonderful peasant soup that uses up stale bread to turn a winter minestrone (that's the kale in it) into a full scale comfort meal. It's even better if you keep a day before you eat it.

Recipes for minestrone change depending on area and even on family. For Ribollita the most important ingredient is cavolo nero, a cabbage with leaves so dark green they're almost black. Use kale as a substitute or Savoy cabbage but not the light Dutch cabbage. This recipe for Tuscan minestrone gives you that familiar soup on the first day, then with addition of the stale bread, Ribollita thereafter. It's worth making the original minestrone in large quantity to benefit from soothing Ribollita, delicious hot or at room temperature with a good glug of olive oil drizzled over.

1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 leek, white part only, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
4 carrots, sliced into half-inch rounds
4 zucchini, sliced into half-inch rounds
1/4 whole Savoy cabbage, shredded and chopped
1 bunch cavolo nero or kale
1 small bunch spinach, shredded and chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into one-half inch cubes
1 cup green beans, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups Tuscan white beans, one-half cup pureed and one-half cup whole
2 tablespoons coarse sea salt or kosher salt
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound stale Italian or rustic bread, torn into chunks
4 tablespoons olive oil, plus good virgin olive oil for drizzling
freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large metal casserole and sauté the onion and leek together over low heat until they begin to brown and caramelize a little. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stir in the tomato paste then throw in everything else except the beans. Season with sea salt and stir to integrate all the vegetables. Cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables have collapsed, stirring once in a while, about 15-20 minutes. Fill the casserole to the brim with water and stir it around the vegetables making sure nothing is catching on the bottom. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Cover again and simmer for 1 hour. Add the Tuscan beans. Leave overnight if you can for the next day's minestrone to allow the flavors to mellow.

Once you've had your minestrone, pour the left-overs into a ceramic or glass baking dish, fold in the torn up chunks of bread and bake in a 350F oven until it all becomes a complete wodge, stirring once in a while to soften the bread. Serve piping hot in winter or at room temperature in summer with plenty of ground black pepper and a good glug of strong olive oil drizzled over each helping. 

Related Information...

Dean Gold - owner chef of Dino

Posted on Sunday 01st January 2012 in Mediterranean, Recipes, Soups, Starters, Vegetarian