Ribollita is the ultra Tuscan comfort food. Hearty and rich in nourishment, this cherished soup is for satisfying bellies and souls.
Just got back from visiting Tuscany, a place we once called home. Of course we had to have a bowl of ribollita to start off Sunday lunch. Rustic, warming, sustaining, ribollita is genuine Tuscan soul food.
What is ribollita?
Ribollita, a classic Tuscan dish with ancient peasant roots, starts out simply as vegetable soup, a minestrone poured on stale bread. It’s nutritious and delicious, but it’s even better the next day when you re-boil it. And only then does it become ribollita.
After many bowlfuls, and asking many Tuscans about their ribollita, their mom’s ribollita and their grandmother’s ribollita, I quickly found there’s no one recipe, because it’s really a dish about putting a meal together according to any precious leftover bread, vegetables and ingredients you have.
In the winter months, my husband used make a detour on his way home from work to a tiny shop in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere to pick up gallons of the soup for ribollita. The signora of the shop made a big pot once a week. You just had to supply your own bread and re-boil it. She made a thin brothy minestra, not a thick minestrone, and her instructions were to layer it with the bread in the pot like a lasagne: a slice of bread, a ladle of minestra, a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, and repeat. Some say ribollita doesn’t have Parmigiano. Well, some do!
Ingredients
The ingredients in ribollita make for a highly nourishing meal. They can vary according to availability, however, it really wouldn’t seem like Tuscan ribollita without bread, kale and white beans.
Bread
Bread is very important in ribollita. Without it, it would be just a vegetable stew. If you’ve ever had Tuscany’s pane sciocco (PA-neh SHO-co), a dense white bread, you’ll know it has no salt. Since saltless bread outside of Tuscany is rare, I happily use any dense country loaf.
One of my first memories coming from a modern big city moving to the rural Tuscan hills, is coming across loaves of stale bread for ribollita set out to dry at the foot of a big stone hearth in a innkeepers old country kitchen. Note, the bread doesn’t absolutely have to be dry or stale. A dense fresh loaf will work as well.
Che cavolo? Kale and Other Greens
Cavolo nero, what the Tuscans call black cabbage, a popular winter Tuscan cabbage also known as Tuscan kale or lacinato kale, is the star green of ribollita. Then we have the other cavolos. The frilly cavolo verza, or Savoy cabbage commonly accompanies the kale. Or cavolo cappuccio, the smoother cabbage, can be used in its place. Other greens such as chard from the beet family can also be used, in an amount about half as the kale.
Che cavolo..‽ (keh CAH-voh-loh) What the cabbage..‽
An Italian swear phrase meaning more or less What the heck..‽
White Beans
If you don’t find cannelini, look for great northern or navy beans. Borlotti, or cranberry beans, will work too.
Tomatoes
Not too much tomato is needed. This isn’t really a tomato-based soup. The tomatoes in ribollita serve just for a touch of the deep savory flavor that they provide. Since ribollita is typically a winter soup made when tomatoes are out of season, canned tomatoes or tomato paste are convenient to use. They also tend to have a deeper flavor than any fresh tomatoes this time of year. That said, you can definitely use fresh tomatoes as well.
Good Olive Oil
In Tuscany, the olive harvest that starts in the fall and goes into winter makes abundant fresh new olive oil to flavor ribollita. If you don’t have a great flavored olive oil, a decent tasting extra virgin olive oil mixed with a touch of butter would be preferable to a flavorless vegetable oil.
Cheese
Hmm. Some say there is no cheese in ribollita. While this may be true for many, in reality, sometimes… there is. Namely Parmigiano. Ribollita is a peasant dish where, for a very long time, people have included what they’ve had according to their circumstances and religious customs, often eating vegetarian. There was poverty. And Italian Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is expensive. However, my experience living in Tuscany in modern times is that some Tuscan’s sprinkle a little Parmigiano between the layers.
And in the same recycling spirit that ribollita is made, someone along the way wondered why not extend the use of the cheese rind and throw it in the pot. I personally don’t throw Parmigiano cheese rind in my ribollita, and I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to buy a block of Parmigiano solely for its rind. However, if you have some on hand that you would otherwise throw out, you can simply add it when making the minestrone to impart flavor as it simmers.
Serving
You can eat the soup with the bread mixed in, or by itself, the day you make it. However, it will be better as ribollita the next day, or when you re-boil it. Ribollita makes a great meal in itself, but can be a first course or even served as a side dish. In little osterias and trattorias around Tuscany, it is often served so thick you could put it on toast if you wanted.
Tip: Making a large pot of Ribollita to enjoy for several meals is what ribollita is all about.
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Ribollita Recipe
Hope you enjoy this wholesome winter staple of the Tuscan Mediterraean diet. Tip: To send yourself a list of the ingredients, click the black text button (on mobile) or email button below.
Tools
- immersion blender, food processor, blender, or potato masher
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into ½-inch (1.2cm) cubes
- 2 cloves garlic (optional), minced
- 1 lb lacinato kale (Tuscan cavolo nero), stems removed, leaves coarsely chopped into 1-inch (2.5cm) or smaller pieces
- ½ head savoy cabbage (or regular cabbage), coarsely chopped into 1-inch (2.5cm) or smaller pieces
- 7 oz whole peeled canned tomatoes, crushed with a fork (or 1 Tbsp double concentrated tomato paste, or 2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped)
- 1 sprig thyme (optional) leaves
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 3 tsp salt
- 10 cups water
- 4 cans cannellini, great northern or navy beans (15oz/425g cans), drained and rinsed
- 1 lb bread (rustic loaf), preferably stale
- black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
Make Soup
- In a large soup pot, sauté the onions and celery in the olive oil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until starting to color, about 3 minutes. Stir in the carrots, potatoes and garlic, and cook another 2 minutes.
- Add the kale, cabbage, crushed tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves, salt and water. Stir and bring to a simmer. Then cover and cook on low heat for around 30 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, use an immersion blender to blend half the beans into a smooth thick paste, about 2 to 3 minutes. If needed, borrow just enough of the cooking water necessary to facilitate blending. Add the puréed and whole beans to the soup, and cook for another 15 minutes. Adjust salt to your taste.
Assemble for Ribollita
- To Serve Now: Cut or tear the bread into bite-sized pieces and place at the bottom of a soup pot. Ladle the soup over it and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until warm, about 10 minutes. (You can add water if you like it more soupy or let it boil down to make it thicker.) Cover, take off the heat, and let rest 10 minutes before serving.To Serve Later (for the best ribollita): Add a large slice of bread to the bottom of a soup pot (if you like, rub the bread with a peeled clove of garlic first), then cover with a ladle of soup. Repeat with the remaining slices of bread and soup. Let cool, then refrigerate 4 hours to overnight (or portion and freeze*). When ready to serve, bring just to a boil, then cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until warm, about 10 minutes.
- Serve with a generous drizzle of olive oil and freshly cracked pepper.
Variations
- Red onion – Sprinkle chopped red onion over the bread-thickened soup right before rewarming.
- Rewarming – You can also rewarm the bread-thickened soup in a skillet or in the oven. It doesn’t have to be in a pot.
Storing
Keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months. *Thaw before rewarming.Tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and comment below!
