Tuscan Ribollita with Cavolo Nero and Sourdough

⏱ 75 min · Serves 4

The great Tuscan thrift dish: a thick, almost spoon-standing soup of cannellini beans, cavolo nero and stale bread, slowly reboiled until silky. Finish with a hard drizzle of your best olive oil and it tastes like a Florentine winter afternoon.

Per serving: 540 kcal · 19.0g protein · 68.0g carbs · 21.0g fat

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 400g tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1.2 litres vegetable stock
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 250g cavolo nero (or kale), stems removed, leaves torn
• 250g stale sourdough or country bread, crusts on, torn into chunks
• Salt and black pepper
• Grated Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrot and celery with a good pinch of salt and cook gently for 12-15 minutes until soft and sweet, not browned.
2. Stir in the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook 1 minute, then add the tomato purée and fry for another minute.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, rosemary and bay leaf. Simmer 5 minutes.
4. Blitz or mash one-third of the beans with a splash of stock to a rough purée. Add this plus the whole beans and the rest of the stock to the pot. Season and simmer 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the cavolo nero and cook 10 minutes until tender.
6. Add the torn bread, stir well, and simmer very gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until the bread collapses and the soup is thick enough to hold the trail of a spoon. Loosen with a little hot water if needed.
7. Fish out the rosemary sprig and bay leaf. Taste and season generously. Rest off the heat for 10 minutes — ribollita is best warm, not scalding.
8. Ladle into bowls, drizzle each with a tablespoon of your best olive oil, crack over black pepper and add Parmesan if you like.