Ribollita

Photo: Emiko Davies

Emiko lives in Florence and went looking for the real thing. Cavolo nero, beans, yesterday's bread, and it's better the second day. That's the point: ribollita means reboiled.

From Emiko Davies · @emikodavies

Florence's bread soup: cannellini beans, cavolo nero and vegetables cooked down with stale Tuscan bread, best reheated the next day.

You need

• 1 1/2 cups dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight (or 3 cans, drained)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 savoy cabbage, shredded
• 2 bunches cavolo nero (lacinato kale), stems removed, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (or 2 peeled tomatoes)
• A sprig of thyme
• Salt and black pepper
• 7 oz stale crusty Tuscan bread, sliced

How to make it

1. Cook the soaked beans in plenty of unsalted water with a splash of olive oil until tender, about 1 hour. Salt at the end. Purée about half with some of their liquid; keep the rest whole.
2. Warm the olive oil in a large pot over low heat. Cook the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and leek slowly until soft and sweet, 15 minutes.
3. Add the potatoes, cabbage, cavolo nero, tomato paste and thyme and stir until the greens wilt.
4. Pour in the bean purée and enough bean water or plain water to cover. Simmer gently for 1 1/2 hours, stirring now and then, then add the whole beans and season well.
5. Layer the bread slices in the pot, push them under, and cook until the bread falls apart and the soup is thick, 10 minutes.
6. It's best the next day: reheat ('ribollire') until it bubbles, and serve with a thread of raw olive oil and black pepper.

Written in our own words from Emiko Davies's recipe, with their quantities. The original: Ribollita, Emiko Davies.

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