Ribollita

Name: Ribollita
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: italian
Ingredients: 5 tablespoons olive oil; 1 small onion, chopped; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 celery stalk, chopped; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; Salt and ground black pepper; 2 cups cooked or canned cannellini beans; 1 15-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes; 4 cups vegetable stock or water; 1 fresh rosemary sprig; 1 fresh thyme sprig; 1 pound chopped kale or escarole; 4 large, thick slices whole-grain bread, toasted; 1 small red onion, thinly sliced; 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

By Mark Bittman

Total Time: About 50 minutes
Rating: 5(4,581)
Comments: Read comments

Even vegetable stews can have more vegetables. This recipe adds a pound of kale -- that's right, a full pound -- to softened onions, carrots and celery, combined with beans and tomatoes. It's simply a matter of bringing the other vegetables together in a simmer, then adding the kale and topping with the toast. The whole dish bakes in the oven for a few minutes to brown the toast with a little Parmesan.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

5tablespoons olive oil
1small onion, chopped
1carrot, chopped
1celery stalk, chopped
1tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and ground black pepper
2cups cooked or canned cannellini beans
115-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
4cups vegetable stock or water
1fresh rosemary sprig
1fresh thyme sprig
1pound chopped kale or escarole
4large, thick slices whole-grain bread, toasted
1small red onion, thinly sliced
½cup freshly grated Parmesan

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 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.
Step 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.
Step 3
Fish out and discard rosemary and thyme stems, if you like, and stir in kale. Taste and adjust seasoning. 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 Parmesan.
Step 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.

Ratings

5 out of 5

4,581 user ratings

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Comments

Sandra7 years ago

Ribollita is a very typical dish from Tuscany and I was born in Florence so... trust me when I suggest to not add thyme and use only kale not escarole Don't put in the oven but cook early in the morning or better the day before. Add bread in large pieces and wait. Wait, wait and wait again. Then cook again for 5 minutes until boiling but only before serving. Stir, add 4 tbs olive oil and eat.
As a matter of fact Ribollita means "boiled again".

Jen A7 years ago

As written, a bit boring. But a great template dish. I made the following changes:

- Broth, not water
- 10 oz kale, not 16 oz
- Add 2 sweet potatoes or equiv butternut squash (cook before adding)
- Doubled the amount of herbs (I used oregano, basil)
- Doubled the carrots & celery

Gigi7 years ago

Just an addition to your great comment!

Ribollita was originally developed as a way to utilize stale bread.

For the non-Italians on this site, this is an authentic recipe for ribollita: http://www.cookwithgrazia.com/csa-box-content/ribollita-soup-authentic-r...

Susan3 months ago

Just made this. Added a parmesan rind. Used sage, rosemary and thyme because I had them. Would definitely add a second can of cannellini beans, one just wasn't enough, will use fire-roasted tomatoes the next time. One big thing was that I did it all on the stove top. Instead of putting the pot with the bread in the oven for the final 15 minutes, I prepared the bread slices with the sliced onions, olive oil and parmesan cheese and used the broiler in my counter top oven.

Tamara3 months ago

Oh so delicious and hearty! I didn't have kale so used green cabbage chopped and sauteed along with the mirepoix. Otherwise, beautiful as written.

Nina3 months ago

WAY too peasant-y; an explosion of base flavors. I was wondering why they wanted to wash the beans, but now I think the beans in their water would have added some depth. Second time in 10 years I've really regretted making something from NYT Cooking. Ugh.

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