Ribollita

If like me you think this freezing weather is becoming a bit of a bore then maybe what you need is some deliciously warming soup to keep out the chills. Last night I decided what was needed was a dose of Tuscan comfort food in the shape of ribollita.

Ribollita — which literally translates as re-boiled— is a hearty thick soup traditionally made from leftover tomatoes, vegetables, beans and bread. It was a regular on the menu during the winter months when I was at Acorn House, this is pretty much how we made it.

• 1 large onion
• 4 sticks of celery
• 1 leek
• 2 carrots
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 Sprig of thyme, leaves picked and finely chopped
• A handful of sage leaves finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 ciabatta loaf, crusts removed and torn up
• 1 head of cavolo nero, shredded
• 2 400g tins of borlotti beans
• 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1 litre of vegetable stock
• Good quality extra virgin olive oilPre-heat oven to 180c.

Chop the onion, celery, leek and carrots into fine dice and fry in a few glugs of light olive oil with the garlic and herbs. Continue to cook the veg on a lowish heat for about half an hour until it’s nicely browned and lightly caramelised.

Place the ciabatta on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes. Put to one side.

Add the tomato puree to the pan and cook out for a further five minutes and add the first tin of chopped tomatoes. Stir well and cook over a medium heat for a further 15 minutes then add the second tin of tomatoes and the veg stock and reduce by half.

Continue to simmer until the soup is of a thickish consistency and then ad the cavolo nero and cook it in the soup until tender. Add the borlotti beans, bread and season well and add some good red wine vinegar to taste.

Serve with crusty bread and a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. I like to grate parmesan over the top as well but I’m not sure how authentic this is.

Feel free to tweak this recipe by using different veg or maybe spicing it up a bit with some chilli. I think the secret is to fry the veg long and slow at the beginning to get a real depth of flavour.