Ribollita (Tuscan Ribollita) is a warm and substantial first course typical of Tuscan poor cuisine : it is a soup of stale bread and vegetables whose main ingredients are black cabbage , cabbage and beans. According to the peasant tradition , it was prepared on Friday, a lean day, by putting together the leftovers of the previous day and then boiled several times over low heat; first with only vegetables, then with the addition of hard bread, hence the name “ ribollita ”: the more it is cooked, the better it becomes for the following days.

Being a recycled kitchen dish, you can add the autumn and winter vegetables that you have available and that are left over in the fridge, without altering the goodness of your Ribollita! Once cooked, the Ribollita will have a semi-solid appearance and you can add broth according to taste! The following days it becomes even better and you can safely freeze it, to have it all winter and enjoy it.

DIFFICULTY: AVERAGE PREPARATION TIME: 30 MIN REST TIME: 30 MIN

COOKING TIME : 30 MIN PORTIONS: 6

INGREDIANTS:

• 400 gr of dried cannellini beans
• 300 grams of stale Tuscan bread
• 1 bunch of black cabbage
• 1/4 of cabbage
• 1 bunch of chard
• 2 small potatoes
• 3 peeled tomatoes
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 stick of celery
• fresh rosemary
• cool scam
• about 2 liters of vegetable broth or hot water
• extra virgin olive oil
• sale
• pepper (optional)

PREPARATION:

First of all, soak the beans , at least 12 hours before proceeding with the preparation. Once the beans are softened , drain and boil them in plenty of water and rosemary . Finally, drain the beans, keeping the cooking water and divide them in half. One part keep them whole, another part blend them with a blender .

Set aside. If you want, prepare some vegetable broth to add to the bean water. Finely chop the onion , cut into very small pieces carola and celery , fry in a large pot with 3 - 4 tablespoons of oil for 1 minute, add the potatoes cut into small pieces and the tied fresh thyme .

Let it brown for 1 minute, add the peeled tomatoes, brown for a few seconds. Finally add the cleaned, washed and chopped black c avolo , together with the cleaned and cut chard and the sliced cabbage. Boil, add the water from the beans, cover with a lid and let it simmer over low heat for about 2 hours, adding the hot water from the beans or hot vegetable broth from time to time. After the indicated time has elapsed, the soup has taken on a cooked appearance, the chopped vegetables will have softened. Add the bean cream.

Cook for another 30 minutes. Add the whole beans, cover with hot broth and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Salt.

Use an earthenware pot , if you don't have it, use a saucepan . Add the slices of stale bread to the bottom and add a few ladles of soup on top. Repeat the operation adding a layer of bread and a layer of soup until the pot is full. close with a plastic wrap and let the ribollita rest (from a minimum of 3 hours until the next day) Add a couple of ladles of broth , a drizzle of oil and cook again on low heat in the crock for about 15 - 20 minutes, time for it to warm up enough! Add more salt and pepper if necessary.