This Super-Simple Ribollita Will Be Your New Favourite Winter Meal

February 4th is National Homemade Soup Day and for those of us that observe, this rustic Italian soup might be the perfect pick!

Photo by Tracey Kusiewicz

Ribollita is a hearty Tuscan soup that’s made to resuscitate stale crusty bread. Toast slices (with garlic butter, olive oil and/or cheese, if you like) or leave untoasted, whole or torn into pieces on top of the soup like a crouton, or nestled into the bottom of the bowl with the soup ladled overtop.

Ribollita

Serves 4-6

  • Vegetable oil, for cooking
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 carrot and/or celery stalk, chopped
  • 1 Italian sausage
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 to 3 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • 1 can diced, stewed or whole plum
    tomatoes (398 mL), with juice
  • 1 to 2 cups cooked or canned
    navy or white kidney (cannellini)
    beans, drained
  • Handful of spinach or kale, torn
  • Toasted crusty bread, for serving
  • Grated parmesan, for serving

Drizzle some oil into a medium pot or Dutch oven set over medium-high heat and cook onion, carrot and/or celery and sausage, squeezed out of its casing, until onions are soft and meat is no longer pink.

Add stock, tomatoes and beans and bring to a simmer; cook for about 10 minutes, until soup thickens slightly. Add in spinach or kale and stir for a minute or two, until it wilts and tenderizes.

Place a slice or a few torn pieces of toasted bread in each bowl, and ladle soup overtop. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

READ MORE: The Perfect Bruschetta Recipe

 

Originally published February 3, 2022.

Julie Van Rosendaal