Ribollita
(photo courtesy of SFGate)
This week’s Sunday paper had a drool-worthy section of soup recipes, including a recipe for Ribollita, which is a Tuscan soup with bread in the bottom of the bowl, and a rind of Parmesan simmered within. It sounded perfect for a rainy evening, and I wanted to try it. But when I looked more closely at the recipe, I decided I wasn’t so sure. 3 cans of beans is a lot of beans for a soup, and I’m not that fond of kale. So I thought I’d look and see if Giada had a version I might try. What do you know, she did! So I went ahead and followed her recipe, with the exception of the bread. Instead of slicing bread and putting it into the bottom of the soup bowl, I cut it into bite sized chunks, and then toasted those. They were too small to be worth rubbing garlic on, so I omitted that step. I also used fresh spinach instead of frozen, and I used 4 cups of broth rather than 3, and just cooked it down longer. I tried taking pictures, but they came out crappy and blurry, so I took the picture from the article that inspired me, since it was even better than the picture of Giada’s soup.
This soup was really good. Very filling, and the smell of the Parmesan simmering in the soup perfumed the house in such a lovely, wintry way. Now if only it had rained yesterday, the way they promised it would. I know, those of you who don’t live in a drought stricken state couldn’t care less if it rains or not, as long as it doesn’t blizzard or flood. But around here, it’s getting serious, and it seems like every big storm or series of storms we’ve been promised this year has fizzled out. Make that 3 years. Anyway, back to the soup. Really yummy, really warm and cozy. And pretty darned easy, too. Here’s Giada’s recipe, without my changes.
RIBOLLITA
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling on bread
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 4 ounces pancetta, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, 1 minced and 1 whole
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannelloni beans, drained
- 1 tablespoon herbs de Provence
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 (3-inch) piece Parmesan rind
- 4 to 6 ciabatta rolls, halved lengthwise or 1 loaf, sliced
- Grated Parmesan, for serving
Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, pancetta, minced garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until the onion is golden brown and the pancetta is crisp, about 7 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir until dissolved. Add tomatoes and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Add the spinach, beans, herbs, stock, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Drizzle the ciabatta halves with olive oil. Toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and rub the top of the toasts with the whole garlic clove. Place the toasts in the serving bowls and ladle the soup over the toasts. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve immediately.
13 Comments
Fran
Oh yum. I don’t have time to make soup, but this made me hungry, so I licked the picture which looks delicious. I wish I dusted my computer screen more often.
Nance
Isn’t it wonderful to make soup when the weather is yucky? I made a lovely ham and bean soup on Sunday, and it’s so nice to have it cooking all day, knowing it will be warm and cozy to eat for dinner. And soup is even better the next day or so, once the flavors have had time to hang out together.
Starshine
Is the rind the part that would be the casing? Or is a slice of parmesan cheese called a rind?
J
Starshine, I guess it’s the casing…the hard part on the outside of a Parmesan wheel that develops as it is aging.
C
Gotta love, Giada!!!
J, thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ve been making soup almost every day this week! It’s nice on a cold day…and we’ve been having MANY cold days! 😉
Cherry
On Sunday, Eric made a soup that is very similar to this one but it also had cabbage in it. He also asked about the parm rind. Good thing I usually buy parm by the wedge and freeze the rind when we get down to it for just such occasions.
YUM!
I love that you made croutons for it! I heart croutons in soup! We just ate ours with some crusty bread instead of putting it in the bottom of the bowl… plus how else shall I butter it heavily?
Might you have rubbed the garlic on the bread before cutting it into cubes?
J
Cherry, I saw some recipes that called for cabbage. I think they are more authentic Tuscan recipes.
I could have rubbed the garlic on the bread if I had toasted it whole and THEN cut it up, but I cut it up and THEN toasted it, so I didn’t want to deal with all of those little pieces of bread and garlic. 🙂
Cherry
oh DUH! you rub garlic on it AFTER you toast it.
apathy lounge
Even though I’m not a big fan of Parmesan, it sounds wonderful.
Karen MEG
OMG, that looks so good! I like Giada, too, so I will definitely have to give this a try!
Wendi
I absolutely adore soup especially during the long cold winter. That looks and sounds delicious.
Dad Who Writes
Supermum is on a big soup thing at the moment and I might point her in the direction of this (disclosure – I do the dishes and chop stuff). We both love kale and beans, though.
ybonesy
This looks yummy, and I like the modifications you made. Three cans of beans does sound excessive for a family of four.
BTW, I enjoyed reading your earlier posts. Happy belated birthday.