Ribollita it is a perfect restoration dish of the Tuscan culinary tradition. The history of this dish dates back to the Middle Ages. The nobles ate their dishes in the so-called “dining room”. After dinner, the remaining bread was given to the servants. To feed themselves, they combined bread with vegetables and boiled them to get a hearty and tasty soup.
Black cabbage is the absolute hero of ribollita. Black cabbage, a vegetable known and thought about since ancient times with a thousand properties, is also a valuable ally of our health and can be prepared in many delicious recipes. Kale belongs to the Cruciferae (or Cruciferae) family of Brassicaceae (or Brassicaceae) family of various leafy cabbages. Unlike cauliflower and broccoli, it does not develop a central head, but grows with long, crisp, curled dark green leaves with bluish undertones. The name comes from Greek Kaulós, which actually means stem, stem, is also called cabbage cabbage, palm cabbage or Tuscan cabbage. This vegetable is called so because Tuscany has the merit of being able to make the most of it with healthy recipes like the famous ribollita.
There Tuscan ribollita belongs to the family of peasant dishes beans and potatoes and canazzu. Ribollita is called so because it needs to be boiled several times. In addition to kale, the recipe includes beans and stale bread. To prevent the soup from sticking to the bottom and burning, you can have “ribollita” on the wood stove in a pan with a good thick bottom. It is served with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Ingredients for ribollita
- Black cabbage 400 g
- Cabbage 400 g
- Beetroot 250 g
- Pre-cooked cannellini beans 600 g
- Onion 150 g
- Carrot 60 g
- Celery 60 g
- Ripe tomatoes 250 g
- Potatoes 300 g
- 1 sprig of parsley
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Tomato paste 1 tbsp
- Meat broth to taste
- Salt to taste
- EVO oil 6 tablespoons
- Black pepper to taste
- Toast slices to taste
Recipe by Chef Luca Pappagallo
- When you want to make ribollita, first prepare a rich mixture of celery, carrots, parsley, onion and garlic, then transfer it to a pan with a dash of oil. While the saute is going, clean the kale by removing the leaf from the shore. Cut into small pieces and add to the pot. Go to the chard, remove the funds and cut into small pieces.
- Now chop the cabbage and add it to the pot with the other vegetables. Cut the potatoes and tomatoes into cubes and add them. Add tomato paste slightly diluted in a little water, add salt and cover with hot stock. Cover and cook for at least 25 minutes.
- After this time, uncover and add the cooked beans, some whole and some mixed with a little of their cooking liquid or a little stock. Mix everything, taste and add salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, turn off, cover and let rest 1 night. The next day, let it boil for at least 10 minutes. When ready to serve, arrange toasted bread slices in a baking dish, cover with soup, add more bread slices and add more soup until completely covered.
- If you want to try a richer version, bake and fry in a pan sprinkled with plenty of grated cheese.