Ribollita - Thick bread and vegetable soup

Ingredients:

500 g of household bread, at least two days old, 700 g of boiled fresh cannellini beans (or 300 g if dry); half a savoy cabbage, finely chopped; 2 bunches of black cabbage (without ribs and well washed), cut into pieces; a small bunch of chard; 2 ripe tomatoes cut into pieces, wighout skins or pips; one red onion and one clove of garlic, finely chopped; 2 sticks of celery; 2 carrots; one leek; a sprig of thyme; the water the beans cooked in; 8 spoonfuls of extra virgin olive oil; salt; pepper.

Preparation time:

45' - Cooking time: 2 h and 10'

Directions:

As you pass through the sieve 3/4 of the beans with their water, fry the garlic and onion in an earthenware pot. When they start to brown, add the chopped celery, carrots and leek. Cook for an hour on a low flame, then add the other vegetables, thyme, salt and pepper. Add sieved beans and simmer for another hour, stirring well. A few minutes before removing from the heat, stir in the whole beans. Pour the soup into an earthenware receptacle, altenating with layers of bread, and leave for 24 hours.

Notes:

This is clearly one of the many meatless soups of the popular tradition. To carry the glorious title of "ribollita" it must be recooked for a long time with more oil. At one time it was customary, every Friday, to prepare large quantities of it so that it could be eaten for breakfast on Saturday morning.

You can find this and other recipes in the book:
Maria Salemi, Florence - City gourmet guide, Nardini Editore
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