Ribollita from Cucina Povera
This is a wonderful recipe for an Italian peasant staple, Ribollita, a Tuscan vegetable and bread soup.
It comes from a lovely little cookbook all about Tuscan peasant cooking called Cucina Povera
Peasant cooking emphasizes making delicious dishes using simple ingredients and not wasting a thing.
The recipes are budget conscious but that’s not why you will love them. They are rich with the flavors of the Tuscan country side. These are not North American translations of Italian cooking. The recipes are the real deal, direct from Tuscan cooks.
Some of the 60 fantastic Italian peasant recipes in this book include:
- Chicken with Vin Santo Sauce
- Tuscan Ring Cake
- Pork Rolls Stuffed with Ricotta and Spinach
- Stuffed Zucchini Flowers
- Bruschetta alla Pomodoro
- Tagiatelle with Sunday Meat Sauce
- Roasted Tomatoes, Beans and Onions
- Almond Biscotti
I chose ribollita to share with you because it is not only delicious, but it also is a prime example of how these fantastic peasant cooks (like my Grandma Ciancio and Auntie Josephine in their days) take the most simple ingredients and almost magically turn them into not one dinner but three or four.
To me these people are the best cooks going and this cookbook does a wonderful job of celebrating them.
The cookbooks author, Pamela Sheldon Johns, actually lives in Italy and runs a very successful cooking school there. After looking at this cookbook, I may plan a trip myself.
Pamela says this about this delectable peasant staple, Ribollita:
Chef Carlo Cioni understands intimately the relationship between the land and the table. In his hands, a sturdy vegetable soup is transformed into a second dish by layering leftover soup with bread, then into a third dish by baking the leftover layered soup and bread. The fourth and final transformation is ribollita, the remaining vegetable stew cooked in a skillet, a dish that exemplifies the resourcefulness of Tuscan cooks.
Carlo insists it must be made on top of the stove, not in the oven, a version often seen in restaurants. Oil is used sparingly for this is a peasant dish. The ingredients vary according to what is available, but Carlo explains, “There must be a balance between the dolce (sweet), aromatica (aromatic), and amaro (bitter).” The sweet is found in herbs, such as parsley, celery, and purslane; the aromatic is in thyme, borage, and fennel; and the bitter essences come from mustard greens and chicory. A leafy green is always present; in the winter, cavolo nero, and in the summer, cabbage.
Carlo admonishes cooks to handle the beans tenderly and cook them slowly, and “dolcemente,” gently, so they are not broken or crushed. He soaks them overnight with aromatics: whole cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, and a sprig of sage. Use any seasonal vegetables in this soup, and cook them in the order of hardness; start with vegetables such as potatoes that take longer to cook, and finish with the tender herbs.
Ribollita – The Classic Tuscan Vegetable-Bread Soup
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 onion, finely chopped, plus 1/2 cup more chopped onion for Day 3
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 cups vegetable stock
1 or 2 boiling potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 zucchini, coarsely chopped
4 cups shredded cavolo nero (dinosaur or lacinato kale) or regular kale
1 cup shredded assorted leafy greens (such as Swiss chard, nettles, and spinach)
1 cup coarsely chopped aromatic greens (such as borage, fennel, and mustard)
2 cups cooked cannellini beans
1/4 cup minced mixed aromatic herbs (such as fresh flat-leaf parsley, rosemary, and sage)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound day-old country bread, thinly sliced
Day 1: Minestra di Verdura (Vegetable Soup)
In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion, carrots, and celery for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is golden. Add the garlic and the stock, stirring to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the potatoes and zucchini. Cook for 10 minutes, then add the cavolo nero and leafy greens.
Decrease the temperature to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, then add the beans and aromatic herbs. Simmer for 10 minutes to heat the beans through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve in warmed soup bowls.
Serves 8
Day 2: Minestra di Pane (Bread Soup)
In a saucepan, warm the leftover soup over medium-low heat. Place very thin slices of country-style bread in the bottom of a lightly oiled baking dish. Spoon one-third of the hot soup over the bread, and repeat with two more layers of bread and soup.
Cover the saucepan and let stand or 15 minutes to 1 hour in a warm place before serving.
Day 3: Minestra di Pane al Forno (Baked Bread Soup)
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Heat the leftover Bread Soup in the oven in its baking dish. Sprinkle with chopped onion and drizzle with olive oil. Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the onions are lightly browned.
Day 4: Ribollita (Recooked Vegetable Stew)
Lightly brush a medium size skillet with olive oil. Spoon the remaining Baked Bread Soup into the pan and brown over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes, or until crisp on the bottom. Turn and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes to crisp the second side. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. The ribollita should be firm enough to eat with a fork.
Serve at once.
Note: If you have quite a bit of vegetable stew left over, you may want to make it up into several smaller patties. Follow directions as above.
Give this lovely bread and vegetable soup a try. It’s a great vegetarian soup too.
Have a look at Cucina Povera: Tuscan Peasant Cooking
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