Ribollita
Ribollita
Region: Italy, Tuscany
Category: Soups
Season: Any
Difficulty: Easy but takes non-working time

In Tuscany, a popular next-day leftover is re-heated zuppa co' fagioli or bean soup, usually made with cabbage or black kale, and covered with olive-oil-soaked toasted bread and sliced onions. It's called la ribollita, which means the "re-boiled." Cities from Livorno to Florence to Siena claim the soup, but after all it was typically a soup of the countryside rather than the city. On Fridays, in the country, a simple bean soup is made with beans, black kale, potatoes, bread and a prosicutto bone. It was reheated Saturday morning for breakfast usually. Renzo Cantagalli in his Guida ai detti toscani called the dish a kind of pre-coffee (anticaffelatte) for those who take things to heart very early in the morning (before their coffee). Today, ribollita is made with the leftover bean soup that is covered with very thin slices of onion, sprinkled with bread crumbs, drizzled with lots of olive oil, and finished in the oven until a golden au gratin. It is served hot without cheese. Remember that any leftover soup can be a ribollita, but typically it is made of leftover bean and black kale soup. Black kale, cavolo nero in Italian, is a kind of kale popular in central Italy. It is called toscano in Tuscany. In this soup, the black kale--and it is not actually black just very dark green--is a natural accompaniment to the substantial texture of the potatoes and beans and the flavors of the aromatic herbs.

[photo: Clifford A. Wright]

Yield: Makes 6 servings
Preparation Time: 4 to 5 hours in all

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for drizzling

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

10 large fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 sprig rosemary

2 boiling potatoes (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut up into pieces

3/4 pound black kale (or regular kale), washed well and sliced into crosswise strips

2 cups dried white beans

3 ripe tomatoes (about 1 pound), peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

2 1/2 quarts warm water or more as needed

1 prosciutto or ham bone

Salt to taste

For the ribollita (re-heating)

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 large garlic cloves, crushed

Pinch dried thyme

8 slices Italian country bread, toasted

1 large onion, very thinly sliced

1. In a deep, flame-proof baking casserole, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, then cook, stirring, the celery, onion, carrot, and basil (called the trito in Italian) until almost soft, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are somewhat dry, about 20 minutes. Add the thyme, rosemary sprig, and potatoes. Cook until they brown slightly, 4 to 5 minutes, then add the kale and the beans.

2. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the kale has wilted, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the water, prosciutto or ham bone, and salt, turn the heat to high and once small bubbles begin to form reduce the heat to very low or use a heat diffuser and cook until the potatoes and beans are tender, about 3 hours. Add some water if it doesn't look soupy like minestrone. Remove the prosciutto bone and cut off the meat. Return the meat to the casserole and discard the bone. Let cool in the refrigerator overnight in the casserole.

3. The next day preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and remove the casserole from the refrigerator.

4. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat with the garlic cloves and thyme, then cook until the garlic turns light golden in about 1 minute. Discard the garlic and pour half the oil over the soup. Layer eight slices of slightly crumbled Italian bread toast over the top of the soup and the onion. Pour the remaining oil over the onion and bake until golden, about 30 minutes.

Note:  You can make a ribollita with any leftover Italian-style bean soup by following Step 4 above.

Posted: 03/02/2008