Typical “poor” dish of rural origin, it highlights the importance of bread in Tuscany, which is reused even when it is stale for the preparation of important and ancient recipes such as ribollita and pappa al pomodoro.
The name Ribollita derives from the fact that a long time ago, Tuscan rural women used to cook abundant quantities of it and consequently it was reused and “ribollito” in the following days.
This soup therefore takes the name of Ribollita, as it is heated at least twice.
You can taste the authentic Tuscan ribollita in one of the historic trattoria on our food tours in Florence and Pisa.
Here are the procedures for preparing Tuscan ribollita at home!
Ingredients of the Ribollita
- 500 grams of stale bread
- 150 g dry white beans
- 250 g ripe tomatoes
- half cabbage
- 1 potato
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 2 cloves of garlic
- A tuft of parsley
- Thyme
- Pepperoncino powder
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Preparation
Prepare a good bean soup: first let them soak for at least 12 hours, then drain them and boil them in renewed water, over low heat and covered pot.
Brown the onion, carrot, sliced celery and crushed garlic in a pan with oil: add the peeled tomatoes, chilli pepper and thyme and, after at least 5 minutes of cooking, the diced potato and sliced cabbage.
Adjust the salt and then cook over a low heat, adding a little water; add the boiled beans and mashed with their cooking water.
Add salt just before removing from the heat, after about 20 minutes of cooking.
Place 2 layers of thin slices of bread in a crock pot, sprinkle with a few drops of oil and then with 1 ladle or 2 of soup. Add 2 more layers of bread and cover with the soup.
Enjoy your meal!
