Check out this yummy recipe for Robollita Toscano from Wild Thyme with chef, Allison Davis!

Robollita Toscano

For this soup, you will need:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 medium yellow onions, minced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup minced Italian parsley
• 2 large carrots, minced
• 2 celery stalks, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup strained Italian canned tomatoes
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 quarts (8 cups) water
• 2 bunches (1 pound) lacinato kale, woody stems removed, leaves chopped
• 1/2 pound dense country bread, crumbled

Step 2

Place 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed saucepan or pot (cast iron or enameled cast iron work well).

Add the onions, garlic, parsley, carrots, and celery to the pot and stir. Season with the salt and pepper.

Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring often to encourage even browning and to prevent scorching or sticking. If needed, add little water to the vegetables in the pot. When the vegetables are golden and soft, the base (or soffritto) is ready.

Step 3

Add the tomatoes to the pot and stir well to incorporate. Cook 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes lose their raw scent.

Add all but 1 cup of the drained and rinsed cannellini beans to the pot and stir again.

Meanwhile, in a blender, puree the reserved cup of cannellini beans with 1 cup of water until smooth; stir this bean puree into the pot. The bean puree will thicken and flavor the soup, and is essential to a true ribollita. (Note, however, that in Tuscany, ribollita is usually made with dried beans rather than canned… and purists would frown on using canned beans. See the introductory note above to substitute dried beans.)

Step 4

Add the water to the pot and stir well. Stir in the kale and bring the soup to a boil.

At this point it will seem like there is way too much kale in the pot, but as the soup simmers for hours, the kale will cook down to a soft, silky mass and will shrink a lot.

Stir the bread into the pot; I like using bread with the crusts on, but in Tuscany, the crusts are usually omitted.

Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the soup for 2 to 3 hours, stirring once in a while and adding a bit of water if needed to maintain a soupy (but thick, almost porridge-like) consistency.

If the texture of the soup is too thin, remove the lid and cook the soup, uncovered, until nicely thickened. The final consistency of the soup has a lot to do with the type of bread you use; the denser the bread, the thicker the soup, since dense bread absorbs more liquid than light, airy bread. Tuscan bread is very dense and chewy, ideal for ribollita and other bread-based soups.

Adjust the salt and pepper, and serve the soup hot, drizzled with the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil. Serves 8