So nice, you cook it twice: ribollita

Ragazzi, occasionally , we get a little bit of a cultural anthropology lesson in these posts, whether we like them or not.  Well, get out your note pads, because we're gonna learn a LOT today, about a soup that is just right for this kind of year.

In Annalena's mother tongue (Italian for those of you who are snits), there are two words for soup:  minestra (you all know that one from minestrone:  BIG soup), and zuppa, as in "zuppa di pesce."    If you are a purist, like Annalena, these terms are NOT interchangeable, for Italian cuisine, notwithstanding its reputation for a freewheeling nature,  has very strict rules about this kind of thing.  "Minestra" is a soup that is very liquid.  You may have a lot of stuff in it, but ultimately, it is brothy, (pieno di brodo), and it "feels" like soup.  Think chicken noodle, if you must.

Now "zuppa" is something that is much more solid.  It has liquid in it, but you are reminded, more of the solids than anything else.  So, "zuppa di pesce," if made properly (it almost never is), has a bit of liquid in it, but the dish is about the solids. And, perhaps key, and where we will be focusing today, is that bread is a requirement for these soups.  When you get zuppa di pesce, there is, inevitably, a garlic toast in the soup.  Traditionally done, it is put at the bottom of the bowl.  These days, you get it at the side, more often than not, but that's a modern conceit.  If you want a parallel to the chicken noodle we mentioned above, think potato leek or butternut squash soup.

Ok, so now we move on to some MORE anthropology.  When do we use one or the other?  Well, soup in the form of "minestra," is considered a first course.  It alternates, with pasta, or polenta, and so forth.  In some, formal settings, a very light minestra precedes the starch, but that is very high level cooking, of the sort written of in "Il Gattopardo"  (The Leopard), which Annalena INSISTS all of you read.  It is truly a marvel of 20th century literature.    Zuppa is usually served, on its own, as a light meal.  It can be your lunch for example.  And that makes sense, does it not?   Sometimes, in modern cuisine, it becomes the meal in and of itself.  Now for those of you who say "I could make a meal of soup and bread just on its own," indeed, minestre with bread can be a meal.  Again, however, you have the option.  You can leave the bread out.  In zuppa, it's already there.

"Ribollita"  means "boiled twice" in Italian, and it is an example of the crafty way Italians have of eating.  Its origins fascinate Annalena.  Let us consider a meal, on day 1.  The cook makes a big pot of minestra for the first course.  As with all soups, s/he makes more than s/he needs for the meal.  It is served, with bread.  There are leftovers,  just as there are of bread.

Well, on day 2, the minestra goes back on the pot... and in goes the left over bread.  It is boiled again, and you have:  ZUPPA.  Ribollita.   

To Annalena's taste, ribollita is much more than the sum of its parts.  It is a wonderful dish.  As we make it today, it may seem complicated and time consuming.  Truly, ragazzi, it is not.  Yes, you will have to do some shopping, and yes, you will have to do a lot of chopping, but you wind up with three quarts of magnificent, filling, cuddle you in its arms, "zuppa."  Here we go.

The version presented here, is Tuscan.  And how do we know that?  Well, some more anthropology.  Italians insult each other the way Americans do, only it can be much more virulent.  Tuscans are called, among other things  "mangiafagioli:"  bean eaters.  If a soup does not have beans in it, it is not Tuscan.  Also, they are sometimes called "mangiafoglie," or "leaf eaters," although you will not hear that very often these days.  "Foglie" in this instance, are leafy greens, and they include that wonderful vegetable  "cavolo nero," or black cabbage, or Tuscan kale, or dinosaur kale. Crinkly, dark, scary looking, it is delicious.  You MUST use it for this recipe.  No ifs, ands or buts. 

And here we go. First, let's make our beans.  If you must use canned, well.... ok, get two, one pound cans, drain them, wash them, and be ashamed of yourself.  Otherwise, put half a pound of dried beans in a pot with a handful of sage leaves, and five or six garlic cloves, sliced.  Cover this with 2 quarts of water, and let it cook away, on low heat for about 2 , maybe 2.5 hours. 

What kind of beans?  AH.   Annalena is SO glad someone asked that, even if it was she herself.  For truly Tuscan soup, cannelinis, or another small, white bean.  You may want to use tarantais if you are  French and "slumming" with Italian , but anything other than black or kidney would do.  (black and kidney WILL do, but they will make the soup very dark and unappealing looking, because we will be using the cooking water.

You may want to do these beans ahead of time, and that is terrific. Keep them in the cooking water.

Now, the elbow grease, as we prepare our veggies.  You will need an onion, a big one, chopped.  If you have a food processor, do this separately from the other veggies, which can all go in together.  Then chop up about four cloves of garlic.   They are a couple of stalks of celery, a carrot, about 6 ounces of unpeeled potato, about four ounces of a fennel bulb.  Annalena pulses these in her food processor, and chops the onion by hand.   After you've chopped them, just toss in a few stalks of thyme with the veggie mix.

To our greens:  you will need half of a small head of savoy cabbage, chopped up.  Also, one bunch of Swiss chard, leaves only, chopped into ribbons. And the Tuscan kale:  two small, or one large bunch, also chopped the way the chard was.  The kale can be of different sizes.  The larger it gets, the tougher the stems.  If the stems seem soft and edible (nibble one), you can use them.  Else, tear the leaves from the stems. 

You will also want one 15 ounce can of tomatoes.  You should break these up with your hands.

FINALLY... a few pieces of parmesan cheese rind.  Now, with this, you have changed the soup from vegan to vegetarian.  Annalena does NOT see leaving them out as an option, because your base here, is water, and the rind makes a very good flavor.  You may want to have a discussion with your vegan friends over just how much cheese REALLY gets in  (not much).

NOW, we can cook.  Heat up 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in the largest pot you have, and cook the onions to translucence, over medium heat.   Follow that with the garlic for a minute or two. Now add the chopped vegetables and the thyme, and a good hefty pinch of salt.    You wish to cook these for about 15 minutes, until you start seeing brown spots, on your veggies, and/or on the bottom of your pan.  If it looks TOO brown, add some water.  

NOW add all those leafy greens, the cheese rind, the tomatoes, and five cups of water, together with a big teaspoon of salt.  The liquid will seem to disappear in all that foliage, but it's there.  When you see bubbles, cover the pot, lower the flame to as low as it can go, and go away for an hour and a half.

When you come back... you have minestra!  Taste it.  Does it need more salt?  Add it if you are at all unsure, because we are going to be adding another starchy element which may not have much or any salt at all (remember?....).  Now, add the beans, and two more cups of water.

You leave this overnight, if you can.  You CAN eat some of it, of course, it is up to you.  But the next day... get about half a pound of country bread.  This means the  white stuff, with a good crust.  If you are being totally authentic, you will use pane toscano, which is tuscan bread, and which has no salt on it.  (Incidentally, there are two competing stories on why tuscan bread has no salt in it.  One, from non-Tuscans, says that they left the salt out of the bread to avoid the taxes, because Tuscans are cheap.  The other, from Tuscans, says their food is so well seasoned that to season bread would be to take away from the food.  The truth lies in between ragazzi.  Trust Annalena here).    Rip the stuff into chunks. Crust and all.  Put it into the minestra, and bring the heat to medium.  When it comes to a boil, stop.  Leave it alone, and watch it become this thick, MARVELOUS..... ZUPPA!

When you eat this, pour on a bit of your best olive oil, again, to be authentic, a Tuscan one, but use the one you want. 

Yes, we spent a fair amount of time on this, ragazzi, but you have 3 quarts of soup, and look at the ingredients:  three tablespoons of olive oil, for three quarts of soup.  One tablespoon of vegetable fat for a quart of soup?  Don't complain. 

Ragazzi, it is winter.  It IS the time for soup making.  Get out your pots, buy some veggies (and note how inexpensive these ingredients are!).  Ribollita.  You will love it.  And you will NEVER pay 12 dollars a bowl for it in a restaurant again.