Ribollita
Yesterday's vegetable and bean soup, thickened with stale bread until a spoon stands up in it.
- Serves
- 6
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Written
Method
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Warm the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat and cook the onion, carrots, and celery until softened, about 8 minutes.
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Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Add the crushed tomatoes, one can of beans, the broth, and the Parmesan rind, and bring to a simmer.
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Purée the second can of beans with a splash of broth until smooth, then stir it into the pot — this is what gives the soup body without cream or flour.
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Simmer uncovered until the vegetables are fully tender, about 30 minutes.
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Stir in the kale and cook until wilted and dark, about 5 minutes.
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Remove from the heat, fish out the Parmesan rind, and fold in the torn bread until it starts to break apart and the soup is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
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Let the pot sit off the heat for at least 15 minutes so the bread finishes absorbing, then season with salt and pepper and ladle into bowls.
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Finish each bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and grated Parmesan.
Notes
The name means “reboiled” — this started as a way to bring leftover vegetable soup back to life with whatever stale bread was left in the box, and it’s still better made a day ahead and reheated than eaten the night it’s made. Puréeing half the beans instead of adding cream is what turns broth into something you’d call a stew.
Use the driest bread you can find; fresh bread turns to paste before it’s had a chance to thicken anything. Cavolo nero or chard work in place of the kale if that’s what’s in the crisper, and a hunk of Parmesan rind — not a substitute, just a scrap saved from the last block — is the whole difference between a good pot and a forgettable one.