A true cucina povera dish, Ribollita soup is a super hearty, and comforting kale and bean soup made with day-old bread. The bread thickens the soup into a delicious porridge-like consistency. It’s easy to make and can be changed up with many ingredients based on your own personal preferences.
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Tuscan-style cucina povera
I’m constantly on the lookout for budget-friendly meals that allow us to use up pantry or leftover ingredients and Ribollita does just that.
Ribollita, which translates to “reboiled” is a Tuscan stew that relies on day-old bread for its wonderful consistency, along with beans, kale, carrots, celery, and onions. It’s one of my favorite cucina povera meals!
The best part is Ribollita really lends itself to being eaten over a number of days as the flavors intensify and the soup gets even better.
How to make ribollita
- Start by removing the stems from the kale with your hands. Give it a light chop or hand tear the leaves apart.
- Chop the zucchini into bite-size pieces. Also, chop 2 cups onion, 1 cup celery, and 1 cup carrot into bite-size pieces like the zucchini pic below.
- Save the ends of your Parmigiano Reggiano blocks. If you don’t have one and the block is almost finished, just chop it off like shown.
- Chop a 1/4 cup of fresh parsley and mince 6 cloves of garlic.
- Prepare 6 cups of low sodium chicken stock. We use chicken base often for this purpose. Box stocks work well, and of course if you have made homemade chicken stock absolutely use that!
- In a large pot saute 4 ounces of pancetta on medium heat in a 1/4 cup of olive oil. After about 5 minutes of cooking, add in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes until golden.
- Add the onion, carrot, zucchini, and celery and cook for 7-10 minutes until well softened.
- Add 3 ounces (half a can) of tomato paste, mix it around and let it cook for a few more minutes.
- Next, add the Tuscan kale and stir it around.
- Add in the 6 cups of chicken stock, the cannellini beans, 1 large sprig of fresh rosemary, and the rind of the Parmigiano Reggiano. Also, if desired add the 1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes at this time. Bring to a simmer, then turn heat to medium-low.
- After the soup has cooked for 30 minutes or so (feel free to let it cook a little longer – the beans will break down more), taste test it and if necessary add extra salt, pepper, and more crushed red pepper.
- Add the parsley and a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil right into the pot. Bring the pot to the table and ladle the soup over pieces of stale Italian bread. Drizzle and offer more extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, crushed red pepper, and bread at the table.
Top tips
- The ribollita soup keeps well for a few days and is great to freeze for a make ahead meal. It tastes even better the next day and will have a more robust flavor and thicker consistency. If too thick just thin the soup with some water, as you would normally do in a Pasta Fagioli or Pasta e Ceci recipe.
- Ribollita soup can of course be thickened with day-old bread or any bread for that matter, but breadcrumbs are a great way to do it as well. Lightly toasting a cup or two of breadcrumbs and serving them on the table is a nice addition.
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Ribollita Soup
Ingredients
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale stems removed, chopped
- 2 cups onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 cup carrot diced
- 1 cup zucchini diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 16 ounce can cannellini beans drained
- 6 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1/4 pound pancetta diced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 1 loaf day old bread
- 1 rind Parmigiano Reggiano
- 1/2 tsp crushed hot red pepper flakes
- 1 large rosemary sprig
- 1/4 cup parsley minced
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Instructions
- Begin by removing kale stems and lightly chopping leaves. Mince 6 cloves garlic. Chop 2 cups onion, 1 cup celery, 1 cup carrot and 1 cup zucchini into small bite size pieces. Chop the fresh parsley.
- Saute the 1/4 pound of pancetta in a large pot in a 1/4 cup of olive oil on medium heat. After 5 minutes add the garlic and saute for 2 minutes more. Next, add all the diced veggies except the kale and cook until softened for about 10 minutes.
- After the veggies have softened, add the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes more, then add the kale and stir to combine. Add the stock, cannellini beans, parmigiano reggiano rind, crushed red pepper flakes and rosemary to the pot. Bring to a simmer then lower heat to medium-low and let cook for 20-30 minutes.
- When soup has finished cooking taste test and adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Add the parsley and a large drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and stir to combine. Ladle the soup over pieces of day old bread in individual bowls. Serve with more bread, grated parmigiano and extra virgin olive oil on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- No extra salt was added, adjust accordingly.
- Use a 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano in place of rind if required.
- Serve with plenty of bread to thicken, extra virgin olive oil, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and grated cheese on the side.
- The soup is even better the next day. If too thick, just add some water to thin out when reheating.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I don’t know shy I waited so long to make this. It is so delicious and absolutely perfect for the sub-freezing winter days. I am not a big kale fan, but this recipe transforms it into a delight. Like every recipe that I have tried from Sip and Feast, this is a winner. I am slowly trying to cook my way through your many dishes. I cannot wait to try the cocktails! Thank you for all you do. I send everyone I know to your youtube channel. P.S. I live in Dublin, Ireland and just found a treat called Pocket Coffee in an Italian Grocery. It is chocolate with a liquid espresso center and is addictive. If you see it at one of your Italian shops, I highly recommend trying it.
Thanks for the comment and review, Zoe. So happy you enjoyed the soup and other recipes. If I can find the Pocket Coffee I’ll definitely try it out, thanks!
Haven’t had this since I was in Italy. Question….do you add any of the bread to the soup? I don’t see mention of it only serve with bread. Love watching all your recipes.
Hi Donna, thanks for the comment. Great question – the way I’ve written it here is to place the bread in bowls and then ladle the soup over the bread. See the section in the post on Soup Consistency which gives an alternative to cook the bread in the soup for 10 minutes or even longer. It’s really up to personal preference.
Super delicious. I dont even like kale and gobbled it down anyway. 😀 Thanks always, youtube legend!
Hi Fiona, I’m so happy you liked it! And thank you! 🙂
Jim this looks amazing as always. I know it was to stretch the buck, but bread in soup is just such a brilliant flavor move IMO.
Thank you Jo! It definitely does save money, but in the end I think it just adds so much great flavor.
This sounds and looks absolutely amazing!
Thanks a lot Valentina!