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Ribollita, a hearty Tuscan vegetable soup made with cannellini beans, cavolo nero, bread, potatoes and garlic it’s packed full of nutrition and flavour. A great recipe for chilly winter evenings!
This traditional Tuscan vegetable soup is extremely popular during the winter months in Italy. It’s a very chunky and hearty stew-like soup that’s best enjoyed reheated the next day hence the name Ribollita (reboiled).
Ribollita Origin
Ribollita was originally made by reheating leftover minestrone or vegetable soup the next day with the addition of crusty bread to bulk it out. There are many varieties of Ribollita but the most common vegetables used are;
- cavolo nero
- savoy cabbage
- carrots
- onion
- celery
- potatoes
- tomatoes
How To Make Tuscan Vegetable Soup – Ribollita
First, you need to soak the dried cannellini beans in cold water for at least 12 hours (ideally 24). Once the beans have soaked, drain them and add them to a pot with 3 peeled garlic cloves, two sprigs of rosemary and 5 sage leaves. Cover the beans with water and place on a low heat.
Let the beans simmer gently for 2 hours then remove the beans with a slotted spoon and place in a separate bowl and discard the rosemary and sage. Keep the bean cooking liquid, this will act as your stock for the soup (photos 1,2 & 3)
Tip: If you’re pressed for time, skip this step and add canned cannellini beans in at the end. Replace the bean cooking liquid with extra vegetable stock.
Next, make il soffritto (click the link to find out more about soffritto). Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and add to a large pot with a little olive oil. Saute gently until soft then add the potato (peeled and cubed) and the leek, continue to cook until the leek has softened.
Add the bean cooking liquid, vegetable stock and canned chopped tomatoes along with a pinch of salt and pepper, simmer gently for 40 minutes (photos 4, 5 & 6).
Now add the roughly chopped cavolo nero and cannellini beans, simmer covered for 20 minutes then add the chopped bread. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes then serve (photos 7, 8 & 9).
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Ribollita - Tuscan Vegetable Soup
Ingredients
For the beans
- 1 1/2 cups 250g dried cannellini beans
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 5 sage leaves
- 3 cloves peeled garlic
For the soup
- 1 carrot
- 1 white onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 leek, sliced
- 1 lb (500g) cavolo nero
- 2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes (around 560g/oz)
- 1 cup 270g canned chopped tomatoes
- 5 cups/ 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 7 oz (200g) crusty bread
Instructions
- First, soak the dried cannellini beans in cold water for at least 12 hours (ideally 24 hours).
- Once the beans have soaked, drain them and add them to a pot with 3 peeled garlic cloves, two sprigs of rosemary and 5 sage leaves. Cover the beans with 4 cups/1 litre water and place on a low heat, covered. *see notes if using pre-cooked cannellini beans.
- Let the beans simmer gently for 2 hours then remove the beans with a slotted spoon and place in a separate bowl and discard the rosemary and sage. Keep the bean cooking liquid, this will act as your stock for the soup.
- Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and add to a large pot with the olive oil. Saute gently until soft then add the potato (peeled and cubed) and the leek, continue to cook until the leek has softened.
- Add the bean cooking liquid, vegetable stock and canned chopped tomatoes along with a good pinch of salt and pepper, simmer gently for 40 minutes.
- Now add the roughly chopped cavolo nero and cannellini beans, simmer covered for 20 minutes then add the chopped bread. Simmer gently for another 10 minutes then serve.
Notes
- If you're pressed for time, skip the first 3 steps and add pre-cooked canned cannellini beans in at the end. Replace the bean cooking liquid with extra vegetable stock.
- Overall time excludes bean soaking time
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This sounds and looks perfect for our Loaf and Ladle party Nov. 2. Love cannelloni beans, so luscious and creamy and sage is perfect with them. Frances Mayes commented in regards to sage and cannelloni “it could happen to a nicer bean” and I totally agree!
Should the bread be dried out after you cut it up and before you add it?
Hi Kim, sorry for the late reply I hope I caught you in time for your party! Traditionally the recipe was a way for using up stale bread so if you have time to dry it out a little or happen to have stale bread use that but if not you can use fresh crusty bread too! Enjoy!
The party will be 11/2, so appreciate your recommendation about the bread. We hold 3 of these party’s over the winter so everyone from our congregation gets a chance to attend. We always try to leave a variety of the soups in the fridge for office and maintenance help…feed people and they treat you well😊. I love the Lacinato Italian kale. So, so good!
Minestrone is one of my favorite soups and I love bread so this ribollita soup is perfect for me 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!
No problem Julia!
Ribollita is one of my favorite cold weather comfort foods. It’s so hearty and just instantly warms you up. Your photos are lovely!
It definitely does, thanks so much Amanda!
This looks so warm and satisfying for fall, can’t wait to make it!
I hope you enjoy it Jenn!
That soups looks scrumptious Emily, love that it has chunks, something to bite in, very comforting!
Thanks so much Patty!
I have made this soup several times. Despite its basic ingredients and simple recipe, it is delicious. The only change I would make is to use less beans. I did cook dried cannelloni beans when i made it recently as per instructions but I couldn’t see any change in taste to using a canned bean. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
This looks so comforting! I love the addition of the bread
That’s so much Amy, it’s a great winter soup!