Bowl of Tuscan ribollita with two croutons

Autumn in Tuscany: Ribollita

10/07/2024

Tuscany is a treasure chest of unique wonders in the world: art cities, picturesque small villages, breathtaking landscapes, and its cultural and artistic heritage make it an essential destination for anyone. Not to mention its wines and traditional cuisine.

It's not difficult to find in Tuscan culinary tradition dishes that are perfect to bring to the table in these early cold months. Ribollita is like a warm hug in a bowl. This first course – which, due to the variety of its ingredients, is an excellent one-dish meal – derives from the typical stale bread and vegetable soup traditionally prepared in some areas of the Tuscan countryside.

Tuscan landscape in autumn

The long slow cooking time is what makes its rustic flavors shine. This "soup" was traditionally cooked in large quantities on Fridays, so it could be enjoyed throughout the weekend. This tradition is what gave the dish its name, as it was literally “reboiled” for days.

It is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day. Ribollita is popular throughout Tuscany, and in other parts of Italy, with numerous variations. Our Ribollita recipe contains cannellini beans, chard, and Tuscan kale.

Tuscan Ribollita

The traditional Tuscan peasant soup

DifficultyMedium

Servings6

€

CostLow

Ingredients

400 g dried cannellini beans
A few sage leaves
300 g chard, chopped
2 handfuls of cavolo nero (Tuscan Kale), chopped
Half a cabbage
2 medium-sized potatoes, diced
1 tablespoon tomato concentrate (or 5 peeled tomatoes)
2 cloves garlic
Finely chopped onion and celery
1 carrot, cut into rounds
7-8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Stale bread (rustic or homemade)

Method

Soak the dried cannellini beans in a large bowl of water and leave to rest for 2 days.
After the beans have soaked, boil them in a saucepan of water over a medium heat with some sage leaves and a pinch of salt. When they are soft, you’ll need to separate your beans as so; set aside a ladleful of whole beans aside which will be added to the soup when it is served. Then, take half of the remaining beans, mash them, and add them back into the pan.
In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil and gently sweat the chopped onions, celery and garlic. When they are softened, add the carrots and leave them to cook a little.
Add the tomato to the saucepan and dilute with a ladleful of the cooking water from the beans. Add the diced potatoes and leave to simmer over a low heat for about 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the vegetables, with salt and pepper to taste. Then, add the bean mixture (including the cooking water).
Cook the soup over a low heat for about two and a half hours, then add the whole cannellini beans near the end of the cooking time.
While the soup is cooking, slice the bread thinly and lay out in an ovenproof dish, alternating layers of bread with layers of soup from the pan until the dish is full.
It's ideal to leave the bread and soup to soak until the following day.
When it’s time to cook, drizzle with olive oil, add some sliced onion on the top, and cook in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes.