Tuscan soup
Recipe by Ursula Ferrigno
SERVES 6
Preparation 20 minutes (plus overnight refrigeration)
Cooking 2 hours 20 minutes
175g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
4 leeks, washed, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
250g cavolo nero, tough stalks discarded, leaves chopped
8 ripe tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and quartered
1 dried chilli, crumbled (with seeds)
1.5 litres home-made vegetable broth, or water
small handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 rosemary sprig, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
8 slices of country-style bread
extra-virgin olive oil (preferably new season) to drizzle
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
Drain and rinse the beans. Place in a large pan with lots of cold water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 1½ hours, until the beans are just tender.
Heat half the olive oil in a large heavy-based pan, add the onion, cover and sweat for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, leeks and half of the garlic and sweat for a further 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, tomatoes and chilli and stir. Add the beans and stock or water and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the beans are soft.
Ladle a third of the soup mixture into a blender or food processor and whiz to a purée. Pour this back into the pan and stir to mix.
Heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a separate pan and sauté the other crushed garlic clove with the chopped herbs and bay leaves until lightly browned. Add to the soup, allow to cool, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
The next day, warm the soup through in an uncovered pan and check the seasoning. Place a slice of bread in each warm soup bowl and ladle the ribollita over the top. Drizzle with a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and chopped parsley to serve.
