Tuscan Ribollita Soup

Ribollita which means reboiled in Italian is a traditional Tuscan soup made with vegetables, beans and bread. It is the perfect example of the way the Italians can create something utterly delicious, unique and hearty all while using simple ingredients that include day old bread. This soup is thicker and less brothy then a classic soup dish but not as thickened like stew. It is incredibly satisfying and filling, and It can easily warm your heart, soul and body on a chilly day.

Making this soup this year was extra special to me because I was able to use the Tuscan Kale that I grew in my winter garden :) It made the dish that much more delicious and gave it that extra hint of satisfaction. I also used tomatoes that I had blanched, peeled and then frozen from our summer garden. You can use canned tomatoes as well but if you have your own frozen or jarred tomatoes than why not use them!

The Recipe

Tuscan Ribollita Soup

The Ingredients -

4 Tbsp olive oil
2 Medium carrots - chopped into desired size
4 Medium celery stalks - chopped into desired size
1/2 of a large red onion - diced
2-3 Garlic cloves - put through a garlic press or minced
15 oz Can whole tomatoes in their juices or equal amount of fresh tomatoes blanched and peeled (preferably San Marzano or other Italian tomato) - *Read more below
15 oz Can or homemade cannellini beans
1 Medium potato - peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
Parmesan - The rind for the soup and some grated for a garnish
1 Sprig fresh rosemary
1 Sprig of fresh thyme
4 Cups water
10 oz Tuscan kale - torn or chopped (stems removed)
6 - 8 oz Crusty country bread torn into pieces
Salt & pepper

In a large pot, heat the olive oil and then add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic and salt (start with 1 tsp and go from there). Sauté, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browning. Adjust the heat as needed.
While the vegetables are softening, crush or chop the *tomatoes (removing seeds if desired), reserving the juices. If using canned beans, drain and rinse them. Optionally you can mash or puree half of the can before adding to the soup. This makes the soup a bit creamier.
When the vegetables are soft, add in the tomatoes and their juices, the beans, potato, rosemary, thyme and the parmesan rind. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes to let the flavors blend.

4. Remove the rosemary and thyme at this point or leave them in if you’d still like more flavor. Add the kale and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for another 10 - 15 min, Stirring occasionally. More water can be added if desired to thin the soup but remember is is supposed to be thicker. Taste and adjust the seasoning

5. Remove from the heat, add in the bread, cover and let sit for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir gently to break up the bread. Reheat if needed.

6. Serve warm with a good drizzle of olive oil and some grated parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito! And remember, this soup definitely goes good with wine ;)

*The tomatoes - depending on what tomatoes you use the end result of the soup could vary quite a bit. I used the tomatoes that I blanched, peeled and froze from our garden. When I used them in the soup the juices from these were pretty thin and there wasn’t a lot of it. If you use canned tomatoes and crush them (omit the seeds if you like) you will end up with more juice and it will be thicker, more like a tomato sauce. This will result in a soup with more of a tomato base. A nice option when using canned tomatoes is to leave out all or part of the juices until the end and then add in what you want. You may only want a 1/4 or half. You can always add in more water to make up for the difference in liquid.

My Ribollita Soup Experience

The first time I had Ribollita didn’t end up being very glamourous. On a day trip in Lazio we wondered into a cute little restaurant/market in the small lake side town of Bolsena. Bolsena is not a touristy town by any means and the couple running the place spoke Italian (a bit of English too) so there was nothing that told me that this place wouldn’t be what I thought it was…a restaurant. There were only a hand full of tables and we almost had the place to ourselves. It was very cute with a nice display case full of lovely looking meats, cheeses and antipasti. There were shelves with bottles of wine and other goods. It was quite adorable really. I decided to order Ribollita because I had wanted to try it for a long time and it felt like a great day to have soup. We ordered and then waited while we sipped on our drinks. As we sat there observing for a few minutes I noticed that the doorway I thought was to the kitchen was just to a storage area and the restroom. I was so confused for a min. Maybe the kitchen was across the street in another building (I’ve seen this before)? No, they weren’t leaving! Soooo…where was the kitchen? Where was all of this food going to be prepared?

As I sat for a few moments more I realized that everything we were going to be enjoying was coming out of the fridge, freezer or some very nice looking jars. Now with certain things, like my daughters caprese salad this wasn’t a problem. But what about my Ribolitta…..what about my husbands risotto. I took a long breath and laughed (cried) a bit on the inside realizing that the first time I was going to try the dish I’d been waiting so long to try in Italy was going to come from a jar :) We waited patiently for our food and amazingly enough it mostly came out together. Pretty good for just one microwave…haha!! We ate everything we ordered…and you know what? It wasn’t really that bad at all! I had the worst in mind of course but apparently they had some very nice premade food to offer…haha! I wonder what I would have though if I’d never seen them preparing any of it behind the counter? My soup was good…maybe because it really was good or maybe because I didn’t have another Ribollita to compare it to. The flavors and textures were nice though and I was happy enough. Looking back now it was such a funny and random experience. Nothing I expected (especially in Italy) which makes it worth writing about. I still need to eat Ribollita in Italy by the way :)