Saturday, November 28, 2009

Ribollita


Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that can come in many variations. The main ingredients however, always include leftover bread, cannellini beans and vegetables. The name means reboiled and was originally made be reheating the leftovers from the previous day. When my husband lived in Paris, his Italian roommate used to make this all the time. He'd leave it in a pot on the stove for a week and just turn it on when he felt like having some.

When you look at it, it's a bit deceiving, it doesn't look even close to how amazing it tastes. I would have eaten the entire pot. So healthy, the tomatoes, kale and carrots are sure to fend off any lingering cold. And instead of using regular pancetta, my husband picked an Italian spiced variation which added a flavourful kick to the dish.

What you’ll need
Pancetta – cubed
1 carrot – chopped
1 onion – chopped
1 celery stalk – chopped
3 cloves garlic – chopped
2 cups of chicken broth
1 can peeled tomatoes
2 cans of white beans
Rosemary
1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs
Big bunch of kale

What to do
Start by frying the first 5 ingredients for 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, rosemary and beans. Cook for 1 hour. Dump in the bread crumbs and kale and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve in a bowl sprinkled with red wine vinegar, olive oil, parm and more day old toasted bread crumbs.

3 comments:

Asha at beFOODled said...

I love the idea of a pot on the stove for a week, waiting at the ready! But didn't it ever go bad?

Rachelle said...

my husband said they were 19 at the time and carefree. not something he would do today. i guess their stomachs were made of steel as they never got food poisoning.

Asha at beFOODled said...

Oh to be 19 with a cast-iron stomach again!