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Recipe: Ribolitta

By Jeanine Calabria, Executive Director

Ribolitta is a hearty Tuscan bread and vegetable soup – comfort food at its best. The name means “reboiled”, as the dish was originally made by reheating leftover minestrone or other vegetable soup. In this fresh-from-scratch recipe, from our Executive Director, Jeanine Calabria, the soup is topped with bread, cheese, and onions for added tasty crunch.

Ribolitta

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • 2 cups cooked or canned cannellini beans
  • 1 15-ounce can tomatoes
  • 4 cups vegetable stock or water
  • 1 fresh rosemary sprig
  • 1 fresh thyme sprig
  • 1 pound chopped kale
  • 4 large, thick slices bread, toasted
  • 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Instructions

  1. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it’s hot, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
  2. Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain the beans; if they’re canned, rinse them as well. Add them to the pot along with tomatoes and their juices and stock, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so the soup bubbles steadily; cover and cook, stirring once or twice to break up the tomatoes, until the flavors meld, 15 to 20 minutes.
  3. Remove rosemary and thyme stems and stir in kale. Lay bread slices on top of the stew so they cover the top and overlap as little as possible. Scatter red onion slices over the top, drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with cheese.
  4. Put the pot in the oven and bake until the bread, onions and cheese are browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. (If your pot fits under the broiler, you can also brown the top there.) Divide the soup and bread among 4 bowls and serve.

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