Tesseract
06-09-06, 07:01 PM
Ribollita
Category: Soups
Suitable for a: vegan diet
Ingredients:
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8 cups water
1/2 cup olive oil
2 carrots, peeled or scrubbed and coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled or not, cut in bite-size chunks
2 zucchini, coarsely chopped
Several fresh, seeded roma tomatoes (or a can of whole tomatoes, without juice), chopped in bite-size chunks
1 small bunch of kale, tough center stalks removed, cut into strips (or your favorite hearty green will do fine)
1/2 small head of Savoy cabbage, coarsely chopped (regular cabbage will do, but crinkly Savoy gives a more interesting texture)
1 bunch fresh spinach, stemmed and coarsely chopped
3 cups (or 2 15-oz cans) cooked white beans
Leaves from 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and pepper
Liquid smoke
Your favorite coarse, rustic bread, preferably stale, toasted if you like
Instructions:
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In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, potato, and zucchini and saute until softened, 10-15 minutes.
Add the water. Stir in the tomatoes. Add the kale, spinach and cabbage, and stir in. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until green are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook 10 more minutes. Add the thyme and season to taste with salt, pepper, and liquid smoke.
To serve, tear the bread into chunks and add it to the soup.
Additional comments:
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"Tuscan cuisine is famous for giving new life to leftovers. This dish is a perfect example. An icon of Tuscan cuisine, ribollita literally means 'reboiled'. It's difficult to find an authentic ribolitta because it takes three days to prepare. Minestrone is made the first day and eaten as is. The second day the leftover soup is layered with thin slices of bread (or toasted bread rubbed with garlic) and baked with thin slices of red onion on top. The third day the leftovers are reboiled."
(description-- but not recipe-- borrowed from http://www.hub-uk.com/foodpages10/recip0479.htm)
(Note: this is definitely not an authentic ribollita, as it only takes an hour to make.)
I cannot get over how good this soup is. It's a perfect example of fresh ingredients coming together in a simple way to create something truly delicious and nutritious. Ribollita is a great way to eat kale if you're not a kale fan. It's also a great way to get lots of veggies at once if you have trouble getting your veggie servings. It feels light to eat, but it's very hearty and filling, even if you eat it without the bread.
PS: I made it last week with 1/4 cup of olive oil instead of the 1/2 cup called for, and there is no noticeable difference in yumminess, so that's how I always make it now.
Category: Soups
Suitable for a: vegan diet
Ingredients:
------------------------------------------------------
8 cups water
1/2 cup olive oil
2 carrots, peeled or scrubbed and coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled or not, cut in bite-size chunks
2 zucchini, coarsely chopped
Several fresh, seeded roma tomatoes (or a can of whole tomatoes, without juice), chopped in bite-size chunks
1 small bunch of kale, tough center stalks removed, cut into strips (or your favorite hearty green will do fine)
1/2 small head of Savoy cabbage, coarsely chopped (regular cabbage will do, but crinkly Savoy gives a more interesting texture)
1 bunch fresh spinach, stemmed and coarsely chopped
3 cups (or 2 15-oz cans) cooked white beans
Leaves from 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and pepper
Liquid smoke
Your favorite coarse, rustic bread, preferably stale, toasted if you like
Instructions:
------------------------------------------------------
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, potato, and zucchini and saute until softened, 10-15 minutes.
Add the water. Stir in the tomatoes. Add the kale, spinach and cabbage, and stir in. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until green are tender, about 45 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook 10 more minutes. Add the thyme and season to taste with salt, pepper, and liquid smoke.
To serve, tear the bread into chunks and add it to the soup.
Additional comments:
------------------------------------------------------
"Tuscan cuisine is famous for giving new life to leftovers. This dish is a perfect example. An icon of Tuscan cuisine, ribollita literally means 'reboiled'. It's difficult to find an authentic ribolitta because it takes three days to prepare. Minestrone is made the first day and eaten as is. The second day the leftover soup is layered with thin slices of bread (or toasted bread rubbed with garlic) and baked with thin slices of red onion on top. The third day the leftovers are reboiled."
(description-- but not recipe-- borrowed from http://www.hub-uk.com/foodpages10/recip0479.htm)
(Note: this is definitely not an authentic ribollita, as it only takes an hour to make.)
I cannot get over how good this soup is. It's a perfect example of fresh ingredients coming together in a simple way to create something truly delicious and nutritious. Ribollita is a great way to eat kale if you're not a kale fan. It's also a great way to get lots of veggies at once if you have trouble getting your veggie servings. It feels light to eat, but it's very hearty and filling, even if you eat it without the bread.
PS: I made it last week with 1/4 cup of olive oil instead of the 1/2 cup called for, and there is no noticeable difference in yumminess, so that's how I always make it now.