November,we are ready:family ,friends all together ready to pick the olives .But today it’s raining so hard that for a couple of days we cannot pick the olives to make the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and the day is wet and sad.We need some good food to warm us up: ribollita .
I suggest you to try it, it takes a couple of hours but most of it is cooking time
200 g “cannellini” beans
1 Onion
1 Leek
1 carrot
2 cloves of Garlic
A bunch of Parsley
50 gr. Pancetta( you can avoid it)
2 swiss chards
200 gr green beans
1 Savoy cabbage
4 Potatoes
2 zucchinis/courgettes
A glass of Tomato purée
20 leaves “cavolo nero” ,black cabbage ,dinosaur kale(without the harder central part)
Salt
15 slices of Tuscan Stale Bread
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Leave the beans in water with a pinch of salt for at least 6 hours.
Cook the beans in a pot with olive oil, onion and salt and water (ca.15 glasses)
Lightly fry the onion,garlic,parsley and pancetta in a large pot.
When golden brown add a glass of tomato purée.
Slice the vegetables in big pieces,wash them.
When the tomatoes purée boil add the vegetables to it
First add the harder vegetables and then the softer ones.
After 5 minutes season with salt
During cooking add 5 or 6 ladles of the bean broth
When the vegetables are almost soft, more or less after an hour, add half of the cannellini beans pureeing them.
Leave to cook for at least half an hour till all of the vegetables are soft.
Prepare a layer with some slices of stale bread in a large bowl.
Add olive oil and then cover with a layer of the cooked vegetables.
Continue making layers of bread and vegetables.
On top pour the other half of the cannellini beans.
Now you have a “zuppa di pane” (bread soup),which is already very good.
Pour some olive oil in a frying pan ,add the “zuppa di pane” and cook it until a slight crust forms, if possible.
Now you have your ribollita.
As you see ,do not expect a soup with the liquid. It’s a soup as you added the broth from the beans, but now you don’t see it.Buon Appetito !
