Tuscan Ribollita Soup

I'm halfway through a post on Verona, but this afternoon one of my classes was cancelled and the sun was out so I felt like doing something special and now that I've done it I need to post this first! I tried Ribollita soup for the first time in Siena last October, and I have been saying I'd make it for... what, five months now? Anyway, it was a lovely day today and so I stopped by my favorite grocery store and grabbed a bunch of ingredients at random, based on what I thought *might* be in this soup I'd tried months ago. Turns out I was pretty spot on! Also let it be said that this is my first solo recipe without a reference! You can make it with almost any ingredients you want, but the basics are bread, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and beans.

This is a delicious, filling, healthy and hearty Tuscan soup made with yesterday's bread and some yummy cheap vegetables. It has peasant origins dating perhaps as far back as the middle ages, when the servants would "reboil" (ribollire) yesterdays soup and their lords' leftover bread trenchers for their own meals. So if you'd fancy eating like a medieval serf, continue on and let's make some Ribollita!

First heat a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large stock pot, add onions and pancetta and let cook for about 5 minutes.

Until the onions turn translucent and it looks like this. It will also smell heavenly.

As the pancetta and onions are sizzling, peel and chop some carrots. A while ago my cooking teacher Rita told us while we were peeling apples with knives, that it is an Italian tradition for a young woman to go to her fiancé's mother's house and show her that she can peel an entire apple in one peel. This is a sign or her housewife skills and marriageability. Entirely sexist but I will say that I took it as a challenge on about 4-5 apples and did pretty well. However, if the test were carrot peeling all I can say is that I should buy some comfy and pajamas and a cat because no Italian mother would ever let me near her son after seeing what I did to those poor vegetables.

Add the carrots to the pancetta and onion mix, along with some fresh minced garlic. Let cook until the carrots are softened, about 7-10 minutes.

Chop up some lovely Savoy and red cabbages, pausing to admire their loveliness.

Take a break from chopping and add some chunky tomato sauce to your pot. Also add some salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cinnamon. I like to add quite a bit of red pepper to give it a kick!

After another five or so minutes, add your lovely chopped cabbage and cover- smothering the cabbage into submission.

Stir from time to time, shoving the cabbage deeper down and waiting for it to give in and wilt to make space in the pot.

Once the cabbage has cooked down sufficiently, add a can of cannellini beans (navy) and one of borlotti (kidney) beans. Mix thoroughly.

Now add some basil and about eight cups of chicken broth (or in my case a couple of glasses of water and a haphazard spoonful or two of powdered broth). Let simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add your chopped up day-old bread.

Shove the bread down and stir, letting the soup cook for another 10 or 15 minutes. It should be thick, hearty, and smelling incredible. Taste and re-season if necessary.

Serve hot, and top with parmesan cheese!

Moorea's Tuscan Ribollita 
(yes I'm inserting my name into the title, I semi-invented this!)
Serves 8? Maybe? I made it all for myself since I'm trying to save money and so as of now I have a giant pot of it in the fridge to eat over the next week.

Ingredients
Seeing as I kind of winged (wung?) this, I'm sorry I don't have exact measurements. Trust your heart. I will make the best approximations I can!

1/2 white onion, chopped
2 containers of sweet pancetta
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 large carrots, peeled and chopped
8 oz extra chunky tomato sauce
1/2 large Savoy cabbage
2/3 red cabbage
1 can cannellini (navy) beans
1 can borlotti (kidney) beans
1/2 loaf of day-old bread (sourdough or the like) in cubes
8 cups of chicken broth
Spices (salt, black pepper, red pepper- chili, cinnamon, basil)


Instructions

1. First heat a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large stock pot, add onions and pancetta and let cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are translucent and the pancetta is slightly browned.

2. Peel and chop carrots and mince the garlic, add to the pot and let cook for another 7-10 minutes until the carrots are softened.

3. Add chunky tomato sauce and spices. Let cook for another 5 minutes. Chop up cabbage and add it, covering the pot to hasten the reduction. Stir occasionally as the cabbage cooks down.

4. Add the beans. Cook for another 5 minutes, then add the 8 cups of chicken broth. Let simmer for 5 minutes or so. Sprinkle some dried basil in.

5. Add the chopped bread. Mix everything thoroughly and let the soup cook for another 10-15 minutes as everything cooks down. Obviously the bread will be soggy, but this soup is great because of the different textures of the cooked bread, the cabbage, carrots, and the beans. Be careful not to overcook because you don't want it to turn to mush.

6. Serve hot and top with parmesan. Lots of parmesan! Save the rest in the fridge or share it with friends, depending on how generous you're feeling/how poor you are.


Enjoy! I'm going to go eat my third serving of the day!