A Specialty Soup of Tuscany: Ribollita

"Ribollita" developed by Italians using leftover minestrone (vegetable soup) that was then "reboiled" (the meaning of "ribollita"), but with bread added, and it is a specialty of the Tuscany (Italian: Toscana) region of Italy, where Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital. The soup (more of a stew, because of its thickness) is now often more of a dish in its own right, rather than just a use of leftovers. This recipe is my own, drawn from several variations, but I have to give credit to Rachael Ray for getting me on to this soup, because I saw her make it several years ago on the Food Network, and the fact that it included kale is what really caught my attention. I don't recall what kind of kale Rachael Ray used, but I found other recipes for this soup which called for "black kale" (Italian: "cavolo nero"), also called "lacinato kale," a very dark variety of kale common in parts of Italy, and now more common in the U.S. and many other countries. If you don't have lacinato kale, use regular (curly) kale as I do at times, and I have yet to experience a nightmare where I've been condemned to repeatedly watch Italian westerns from the 1960s due to a curse from Mario Batali; then again, I have had a dream about the "Leaning Tower of Pisa" falling on me. Hmm, you think? Nah.

(For about 6 servings)
 6 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 lb. pancetta, chopped (or use regular bacon)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 pound chopped kale (no big stems)
2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 28 oz. cans crushed Roma tomatoes, with juice (or you can use fresh tomatoes)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

salt to taste (remember, does your broth already have salt?) 

about 6 slices of dried rustic Italian bread, torn into pieces (you can use whatever bread you have, but don't blame me if you have that Leaning Tower of Pisa nightmare, and I won't even mention the Italian westerns)

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

Heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a fairly heavy-bottom pan (a Dutch oven is good) and saute the pancetta/bacon, garlic, onion, carrot, and celery for 6 to 8 minutes. Add the kale and about a half cup of the chicken stock and let the liquid heat up and begin to cook down the kale, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, and the rest of the chicken stock, stirring to combine. Allow the soup to heat up and then cook for about 15 minutes over moderate heat, stirring off and on. Add the beans, salt and pepper, stir well. Cook for about another 15 minutes, then add the parsley and stir. Check to be sure the vegetables are tender. Before serving, add some of the bread pieces to each bowl and then ladle the hot soup over the bread. Let sit for a minute or two, then add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over each serving.

I make this soup fairly often and you can pretty much add any vegetables of your choice, but zucchini is a common Italian addition to the soup, as well as some chopped Savoy cabbage, in addition to the kale. I use sliced fresh grape tomatoes and some tomato sauce at times, rather than canned crushed tomatoes. Finely chopped onion is sometimes added as a garnish, too. By putting the bread pieces in each bowl, you can make the dish as thick as each person likes, but it is my understanding that some Italians eat this dish with a fork, rather than a spoon, so it can be very thick.  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:
Minestrone-This word for Italian vegetable soup, related to "minor," "minus" and "minister," goes back to Indo European "mei/my," which had the notion of "small," and produced the comparative "mynu/minu," which meant "smaller, less." This gave Latin "ministrare," meaning "to attend to, to serve," from the notion of  a "servant being of lesser status." This gave Italian "minestrare," with the "serve" meaning, but also "to prepare food for others." Italian then coupled the main part of the word with "-one," which came from Latin "onem," a suffix adding emphasis or importance, producing "minestrone;" "that which is prepared and served."