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  • Ribbolita: Tuscan Bread and Bean Soup

    Ingredients

    Yield: 6 portions

    • Ingredients
      Amount
    • Cranberry beans*
      2 cups
    • Bay leaves
      2 ea.
    • Garlic cloves, peeled, divided
      4 ea.
    • Celery stalks, chunked
      1 ea.
    • Carrots, peeled, chunked
      2 ea.
    • Onion, peeled, chunked
      1 ea.
    • Leek, white part only
      1 ea.
    • Extra-virgin olive oil
      ¾ cup
    • Savoy cabbage, cored and cut into chiffonade
      ½ ea.
    • Swiss chard stemmed and cut into chiffonade
      1 bu.
    • Water
      5 cups
    • Salt, kosher
    • Black pepper, freshly ground
    • Country bread loaf, day-old, crust removed
      ½ ea.

    Method

    1. Cover the beans with water and soak them overnight. Cook the beans with the bay leaves and 2 of the garlic cloves until they are soft, about 1 hour. Strain them, reserving 1 cup of the liquid to add to the soup.
    2. In a food processor, shred the remaining 2 cloves of garlic with the celery, carrot, onion, and leek until very fine; still with tiny pieces of the vegetables, not a purée.
    3. Sauté the vegetables in ¼ cup of extra-virgin olive oil on medium-low heat, about 10 minutes, or until it is fragrant and slightly colored.
    4. Add the cooked beans and the 1 cup cooking water, cabbage, chard, and water. Bring to a simmer and cook for approximately one hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
    5. Crumble the stale bread into small chunks and place a handful of the bread in each bowl. Ladle the soup over it and let it sit for a few minutes for the bread to soften and the broth to be absorbed. Finish each bowl with extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground black pepper.
      Note: In place of cranberry beans, you may use pinto beans, they are both tender, mealy brown beans whose spots disappear when cooked.