Ribollita Soup

I feel like I could spend a lifetime just making recipes out of my beloved cookbook, The Silver Spoon, one that is over a thousand pages, has lots of notes scribbled next to the recipes I've tried thus far, lots of splotches from being in the kitchen, and even tape to hold a bit of the binding together.

This week I asked my husband what we should try next and with the chill in the air, I agreed with his recommendation of SOUP! With that, he picked out Ribollita, the Tuscan white bean, vegetable and bread classic. For those not familiar, it's a 'bubble and squeak' of sorts historically made from leftovers like stale bread and either vegetable soup. We already had cannellini beans in our pantry, fresh root veggies, San Marzano tomatoes frozen from our garden, thyme I'd recently dried from our herb garden, a couple quarts of homemade stock just off the stove, and the last of the sourdough I'd baked over the weekend....a super healthy, super local, organic vegetarian option that's definitely going into heavy rotation !

I also learned something cool that I can't believe I didn't know! The recipe called for "Cavolo Nero, AKA Tuscan Cabbage". So, clueless, initially I'd just noted 'cabbage' on my grocery list as our winter greens have not been growing as fast as I'd like in the garden, even under cover. But when I got down to the co-op, and noticed a couple different varieties, I did a quick online search for what could sub for this 'Tuscan' type and found...it's simply lacinato kale! Cavolo = Kale. Boom. So much for the Italian I took in college a zillion years ago! Anyhow, I was super relieved because a) I was not digging the concept of cabbage in my soup, especially 7 cups of it, and b) lacinato is literally the only kind of kale I like! So....rad.

I love this as well because honestly, homemade bread mixed into anything is pure yum. Next time I'm totally doubling the recipe.

"Real soup is to the body what peace is to the soul." ~ Isabel Allende