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Ribollita

3
Total Time
1 hr 49 min
Prep
19 min
Cook
1 hr 30 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Easy
The name of this chunky, satisfying soup means “twice boiled” in Italian, because it’s based on reheating leftover soup with chunks of bread to thicken it.

Ingredients

olive oil

4 tsp

uncooked onion(s)

2 medium, chopped

uncooked Canadian bacon

1 slice(s), cut into matchstick-size pieces

garlic clove(s)

2 medium clove(s), minced

plum tomato(es)

28 oz, canned, coarsely chopped with their juice

uncooked carrot(s)

3 medium, chopped

uncooked celery

3 rib(s), medium, chopped

uncooked kale

10 oz, or lacinato, 1 bunch, trimmed and chopped

canned beef broth

28 oz, low sodium variety

canned chicken broth

28 oz, reduced-sodium

canned cannellini beans

28 oz, rinsed and drained

dried sage

2 tsp, 2 tablespoons fresh

black pepper

⅛ tsp, freshly ground, or to taste

French baguette bread

8 oz, or Italian bread, stale, cut into slices

Instructions

  1. Heat a large nonstick saucepan or Dutch oven. Swirl in the oil, then add the onions, bacon, and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, carrots, and celery. Reduce the heat and simmer until the celery and carrot are partially softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the kale, beef broth, chicken broth, beans, sage, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until the kale is very tender and the soup has thickened, about 1 hour. (The ribollita can be prepared ahead at this point and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.)
  2. Place a layer of 4 bread slices in the bottom of a large saucepan or Dutch oven. Add a few ladles of the soup, then cover the soup with another layer of bread slices. Pour in the remaining soup and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the bread is soft, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the sage leaves, if using. Yields generous 2 cups per serving.

Notes

Traditional recipes call for cavalo nero, a dark, plumelike kale commonly found in Tuscany. The closest thing to it here is lacinato kale (sometimes called Tuscan kale); look for it in specialty-food stores or supermarkets. If you can’t find that, regular kale makes a good substitute. As with any soup worthy of such a name, this one is much better the second day.You can use 2–3 tablespoons slivered sages leaves for garnish.

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