MY SOURDOUGH RIBOLLITA

Ribollita comes from the Italian philosophy of ‘cucina povera,’ which celebrates simple, resourceful, and flavourful cooking. I love the idea of making easy, sustainable dishes, packed with plenty of savoury goodness, and my sourdough ribollita is perfect for cuddling up on the sofa to enjoy when the weather gets cold.

My Sourdough Ribollita uses leftover sourdough (you can use any crusty, stale bread you have on hand) to thicken the soup, making it rich and delicious.

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MY SOURDOUGH RIBOLLITA

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 2 onions peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots peeled and chopped
• a small bunch of fresh parsley leaves picked & stalks finely chopped
• 1 rosemary sprigs leaves picked
• 1 medium potato peeled and chopped
• 1 × 400g tin of plum tomatoes
• 1 × 400g tin of white beans and their liquid
• 1.5 litres vegetable stock
• 3 big handfuls kale hard stems removed & leaves roughly chopped
• 3-4 slices stale sourdough
• your best extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• to serve: parmesan or any other hard cheese

Instructions

1. Warm a large heavy-bottomed pan over a medium heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the onion, carrots and garlic and parsley stalks and fry for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until soft and slightly golden.
2. Next, add the parsley leaves, rosemary, potato and plum tomatoes. Use your wooden spoon to squash and break up the plum tomatoes into smaller chunks, then give everything a good stir. Reduce the heat slightly, then cook for a further 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the tomatoes have cooked into the vegetables and the pan is looking reasonably dry.
3. Pour the beans, and their liquid, and vegetable stock into the pan. Season with a good pinch of salt and black pepper, then increase the heat slighly and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is rich and slightly reduced. It will still be a little liquidly at this point, but the sauce will soak into the bread.
4. Stir the kale through the soup, then turn off the heat. Lay the bread overtop of the soup, like a lid. Drizzle over a good glug of your best extra virgin olive oil and allow the pan to sit for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minute, use your wooden spoon to break up and stir the bread through the soup. It should now have thickened and will be rich. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with a grating of parmesan, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a good grating of black pepper.

For more dishes, perfect for cooler days, check out my winter dishes here, or if you want to see my most recent recipes, head over to my Instagram.