Ribollita - Tuscan Vegetable Soup
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!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 235kcal
For the beans
- 1 ½ 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 tablespoon olive oil
- 7 oz (200g) crusty bread
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.
- 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
Calories: 235kcal