Ribollita

Serves 6

Ingredients

olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1-2 carrots, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 fresh bay leaf
1 400g tin diced tomatoes or home squished jar
1 400g tin cannellini beans, or dried beans soaked overnight
1L veggie/chicken stock
1 parmesan rind (optional)
1 bunch of kale, about 15 stems, finely chopped
handful bruised parsley stalks for the pot
old stale bread to use up
chopped parsley and lemon to serve
extra parmesan to serve

Summary

Autumn veggies, a jar of squished tomatoes and the crusty ends of this week’s bread. Ribollita is a frugal feast meets nourishing one-pot-wonder; something to tick over on the stove for the cool months ahead when hearty brassicas and slow cooking beans (or tinned in a hurry) can warm and fuel – like they’ve been doing for centuries.

This recipe is adapted from a Delicious. recipe, and note – if you have an abundance of ingredients this is great to make a lot of.  It’s even better the next day and is the most comforting thing to have on hand in case of a stale bread glut.  Why not keep a serve or two in the freezer.

Ribollita
Warm a few of tablespoons of olive oil in a pot over a medium heat and sauté celery, carrot and onion for 15-20 minutes until soft.  Stir in the garlic, fennel seeds, chilli flakes and bay leaf, once they’re smelling nice add the rest of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil.

Reduce to a simmer for half an hour, or until everything is well cooked.  If you’ve used dried beans that have been soaked overnight, they’ll need an hour or so to cook, so leave out the kale for the first 30mins then do another 30 with the kale in.

Remove the chunk of rind (and any big parsley stalks), taste and season again.  Serve into bowls over the top of the chunky bread*.  Top with more parmesan and parsley, plus a squeeze of lemon or a little grated zest.  A fresh swig of olive oil to top it all off.  Epic yet simple, and utterly comforting.

*If you feel like taking the bread to the next level, you could fry it off in olive oil and season with salt before adding it to your bowl!