As temperatures drop, cook and nutritionist Melanie Lionello is serving up the ultimate comfort food with a hearty Tuscan ribollita soup packed with flavour, fibre and protein.
The viral foodie and author of Easy Italian Dinners: From My Little Kitchen joined The Morning Show to share her take on the classic Northern Italian dish, made with cannellini beans, Tuscan kale and chunks of crusty bread.
Lionello said ribollita was one of her favourite soups because it was affordable, filling and tasted even better the next day.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling on bread
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 carrots, skin on, diced
- 2 celery stalks, including leaves, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 × 400 g (14 oz) tin pelati (whole) tomatoes
- 1.6 litres (5 1/2 fl oz) chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 × 400 g (14 oz) tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bunch Tuscan kale (cavolo nero), stalks removed and roughly chopped
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 thick slices of sourdough or pane di casa–style bread (see Notes)
- 60 g (2¼ oz) grated parmesan, to serve (see Notes)
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-based pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot and celery for about 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften. Add the fennel seeds and cook for another minute, until fragrant.
- Crush the tinned tomatoes with your hands or a spoon and add them to the pot, along with their juices. Stir well, then pour in the stock. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the cannellini beans and chopped Tuscan kale. Let the soup simmer for another 20–25 minutes until the kale is tender and the soup has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
- While the soup is simmering, drizzle olive oil over the pieces of bread and toast them until golden. You can do this in the oven, in a pan or in a toaster.
- Taste your soup and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
- To serve traditionally, tear the toasted bread into pieces and place them at the bottom of serving bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the bread, letting it soak up the broth. Sprinkle with some grated parmesan if you like, then serve and enjoy.
- Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze the soup without bread for up to 3 months.
Notes
You can use any bread but an old loaf of bakery-style loaf is best. The hardier the bread, the better the soup.
If you have a parmesan rind, you can add it to the soup when you add the stock, for extra flavour. Remove before serving.
