Tuscan-style Ribollita with Rosemary and Beans

• Facebook
• Tweet
• Pinterest
• Reddit
• Email

When winter sets in and the temperatures dip, nothing chases the chill quite like a piping hot bowl of soup. Loaded with good for you veggies immersed in nourishing, flavorful broth, soup is filled with immunity boosting nutrients to keep you healthy, too. Ladle up a bowl of comfort and celebrate National Soup Month this January. 

A pot of hot broth is very adaptable. Use it to tie together anything languishing in your crisper drawer or stretch small amounts of leftover meat and veggies in a savvy way. Add diced celery, carrot, onion and garlic – noodles or rice, if you please. You can add pretty much anything you like to the mix and now you’ve made a meal.

You can make a hearty pot of this Tuscan-style Ribollita with Rosemary and Beans in less than 30 minutes. Made from crisper drawer staples celery, carrot, onion and garlic, you’ll need a can of diced tomatoes, some vegetable stock, and a can of cannellini beans from your pantry. You may need to pick up some zucchini from the store, as well as some Tuscan kale. Also known as dinosaur kale or black kale, Tuscan kale has dark green, bumpy leaves and besides being packed with nutrients, adds a nice visual contrast to your soup. Adding chunks of day-old bread gives body and helps to thicken the broth. 

You don’t need a huge pantry or expensive equipment to get delicious results. Here are a few tips for making good soup. Start with your soup pot. While any pot will do, a heavy pot with a thick bottom is ideal. Use any stock you like, but if you’re making a clear, brothy soup the quality of your stock will really stand out. 

Take time to sauté the vegetables: the celery, carrots and aromatic ones, like onions and garlic. And cut your vegetables to the right size. Using the size specified in the recipe ensures that all the pieces will be perfectly cooked. Also, you may need to stagger the addition of your vegetables, adding some of them at different times to allow for their varying cooking times. Keep everything at a simmer so that your ingredients cook gently and evenly. A low and slow cook lets the ingredients cook properly and allows the flavors to meld together.

Adding something acidic will enhance the flavor. A squeeze of lemon juice, splash of vinegar or white wine, or a spoonful of tomato paste will enrich otherwise bland broths. Noodles add texture, body, and chewiness to soup, but to keep them toothsome and prevent soggy leftovers, I like to cook them separately and add them at serving time. Blending with a food processor, blender, or immersion blender thickens starchy soups, and if you want a no-flour thickener, you can pureé some of the beans in your recipe and add them back in. Taste and adjust seasonings at the very end, especially with regard to adding salt. 

Finally, soup always tastes better the next day, so make it ahead. And do make extra. Ladled into freezer containers, you can’t beat homemade soup for a quick, soothing meal. 

Tuscan-style Ribollita with Rosemary and Beans

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped into half rounds
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• generous pinch dried oregano
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1  14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 15.5 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 4 cups hot vegetable stock
• 2 lacinato kale leaves, tough stems discarded, roughly chopped
• 4 slices thick white day-old bread, torn into small chunks (gluten-free if needed)
• freshly ground black pepper and sea salt
• basil leaves, for serving
• Parmesan and warmed bread, for serving

Add oil to a large stockpot and lightly warm. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook for 1 minute, then add rosemary sprigs, diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, zucchini and vegetable stock. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard rosemary sprigs, then stir in kale. Cook 5 more minutes, then add bread and let cook 5 more minutes until bread breaks down a little and thickens the liquid. 

Remove from heat and season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Ladle into warmed bowls, then drizzle with olive oil. Scatter with a few basil leaves just before serving. Top with shaved Parmesan and serve with warmed bread. 

-adapted from recipe by Katy Beskow