Annalena returns, with chard wrapped yogurt tarts

Hello ragazzi!.  Annalena hopes you remember her, and that she has not become obsolete.  She will be honest with you:  the task of keeping up the blog had exhausted her.  So she walked away.  She's walking back, on a limited basis.  You will see short spurts of lots of recipe presentation, but the daily postings, are probably a thing of the past.  When she makes something she thins you should have, she will post.  And she has a few.  This is one, a recipe from one of the greatest of American chefs, David Tanis.

Swiss chard is Annalena's "go to" green.  Did you know that swiss chard is actually beet greens?  Yes, it is.  The beets are inconsequential , and Annalena has never seen them vended.  The leaves, however... OH MY.  They are readily available, year round, very easy to cook, very economical, and very good for you.  If you are a spinach lover, you should acquaint yourself with these, immediately.  And once you do, you will make creative dishes, like this.

See, swiss chard cooks like spinach, which means it's easy.  Unlike spinach, the leaves are large.  So they can be used for something like this.  The list of ingredients is short, the technique is not involved, and they are good.  Shall we begin?

First, we need to cook the swiss chard.  That means cutting the very large stem off, at the base of the leaves, and then dropping them whole, into boiling salted water:

Normally, we chop these leaves up to use them for vegetable side dishes.  Not so here.  You will need 6 large ones.  Annalena suggests you double that quantity.  Like grape leaves not all will be useful, and you will be patching with the recipe. 

You should now gather  your other ingredients:

What you see here are scallions and a lemon.  Buried are 2 cloves of garlic.  You also do not see the chopped parsley:  about a cup of it.  Now, the recipe called for dill, which Annalena did not have on hand, and mint, which the Guyman does not favor.  So, one improvises.

What you also do not see is the yogurt.  FULL FAT GREEK YOGURT.  Seriously, ragazzi, this dish will not work with the non fat variety.  You need 2 cups of it.  You also need  a quarter cup of corn meal, but to be honest, this will work without it.

You will now slice about 1/2 cup of scallions, and grate the garlic.   Also take about a hefty teaspoon of zest off of the lemon.  Have garlic, salt and pepper at the ready.  Mix the scallions, the herbs, the lemon, the garlic, the cornmeal if you are using it, into the yogurt.  Distribute it evenly:

And now, the fun begins.  You will need 6 ramekins, about 1 cup.  Chances are,  you will not have these.  And if you don't, get out your muffin pan.  See how much it holds, and then make allowances.  For example, 8 ramekins 1 cup each, is 8 cups volume.  If your muffin tins hold 3/4 of a cup (pour water into one), you will need to use 8 of them, because 8, 3/4 cup tins will hold 6 cups. 

See why we made extra chard? 

Okay, now turn your oven to 400, and then brush olive oil all over your chosen vessel.  After you've done that, line each one with a chard leaf:

Push the leaves down into the ramekin.  Some will be larger than others of course, and you will have to exercise some judgement, but not just yet.  

Now, fill each leaf with yogurt mixture.  As always when filling a multiplicity of containers, start small and finish big, so that they are filled evenly:

You'll now fold the larger leaves over the filling, and if you can't cover them completely, use some smaller leaves.  It's all good:

Put these in the oven, at 400 for 20 minutes.  If you use ramekins, use a baking sheet. You don't have to if you use a muffin tin, but Annalena recommends it.  

After 20 minutes , you will be tempted to act immediately.  Don't.  These are very hot.  They will come out of the tins or ramekins very easily, with a big spoon to guide you, or just turning them over in your hand.  They will have baked up very firmly, so you won't need to worry about them falling apart: 

Aren't they pretty?  Like a little Christmas present:  what could POSSIBLY be inside?  

Ok, Annalena is getting a little carried away, but still.  Then you turn them over, move aside the leaves, and display your delicious filling:

Annalena ate these hot, and also at room temperature.  She likes them better at room temperature.  The stems can be a bit tough, but that's ok.  Do eat the liner.  They leaves are delicious.  

So there you have it.  You may even want to double the recipe if you're entertaining, because these are, ultimately, one of the "oooh" and "ah" dishes , and they really don't involve much work. 

Good to see you all, ragazzi.  Now, Annalena will be checking to see: who's still there? 

Cooking in a Winter Wonderland: Annalena makes Martha's Root Vegetable Soup

Annalena has a long relationship with the cook and cookbook writer, Martha Rose Schulman.  When Annalena was a young vegetarian, Ms. Schulman's cookbooks were key to her development as a cook.  Later, and still today, her bread book has become core to what Annalena does in the kitchen with yeast.

Years take their toll. Neither Ms Schulman nor Annalena are as young as they used to be, and the days of blithely ignoring calories because 'IT'S VEGETARIAN!!!!"   are gone.  Both Ms. Schulman and Annalena now eat animal protein.  And they both worry about health and calories.  And, Ms. Schulman has an amazing column in the New York Times, called "recipe for health," which Annalena URGES all of you to read, because, let's face it, none of us are as young as we used to be, and we all have to be concerned about things like calories, nutrition, cholesterol, etc.

When Annalena saw this soup, she thought it was brilliant.  There are many root vegetable soup recipes out there; however, in Annalena's experience, most of them suffer from an issue endemic to the starting ingredients:  root vegetables are loaded with sugar.  There are very good reasons for this, which need not be addressed here (do some research), but the result, of course, is a sweet soup.  Not all of us care for that earthy sweetness that one gets with the root vegetables, when they are cooked.  Ms. Schulman's solution, a brilliant one, is to add leeks:

Leeks are undervalued, and overpriced in American cooking.  See those two bunches of organic leeks?  They cost Annalena 10.00.  Yup, 10.00.  Ultimately, for what else is going into this soup, it doesn't matter, as everything else is very inexpensive.  Around Europe, leeks are valued, and they are not nearly as expensive.  They are one of the features of every home garden (l'orto, as per Annalena's semi native tongue).  French women learn to make potato leek soup as their first dish.  And they are wonderful.  But... let us have a show of hands:  when was the last time any of you used leeks?  

Uh huh.  Well, you're going to use them now.  And you are going to be SO glad you did.   So, here we go.  

First, you need a pound and a half of the lovely vegetables.  This is approximate.  Unless you are going to make your own soup stock, or you have a compost pile,  you are going to lose those tough green leaves at the top.  We only want the white, and light green portions for this soup:

Now, for some more chopping.  Get ready.  This is like the all star roster of winter vegetables. You will need to dice about 3/4 pound of carrots (the big soup ones are ok),  a stalk of celery (or two), about 3/4 pounds of turnips, a pound of potatoes, which you should peel  (if you use the food mill option discussed below, don't bother with peeling them, but do dice them).   Finally,get a bay leaf and a few sprigs of thyme, and two cloves of garlic, chopped fine.  

This is what Annalena's "work station" looked like when all the veggies were done:

Now for the "hard part."  Think you can handle this?  Put them all in a big pot, with a couple teaspoons of salt (we'll come back to this), and a quart and a  half (six cups) of water:

Now,  bring this to a boil, and when it gets there, lower the heat, cover the pot, and go away for 45 minutes.  You want the veggies to be VERY soft.  If they do  not seem real soft, then go away for another 15 minutes:

These look much firmer than they really are.  You want to let this cool for about 15 minutes, maybe longer, before you go to the next step.   Now, you COULD eat this as it is (after you pull out the bay leaf), but it's so much nicer if we go forward.  You are going to need one of:  a food mill, an immersion blender, a blender, or a food processor.  If Annalena had her druthers, she'd pick the food mill first, the blender second, the food processor third, and the immersion blender last.    And if you are using anything BUT the mill, get out that bay leaf, and any thyme sprigs you can find.   This is important:  bay leaves cut, and the machines will essentially give you "leaf shrapnel."  So get them out.  

If you use the food mill, you don't have to worry about peeling the potatoes in the early steps, because the mill will hold back any skin.  For the others, you may want to do some kind of straining.  Up to you.  In any event, process these veggies, in small quantities. Remember that if you overload either the blender or the food processor, you are going to get a mess. Trust Annalena on this: you will essentially have a soup explosion.    And in terms of the creaminess of your final soup, the food mill will give you some texture.  The food processor, will give you less, and the mixer, even less.  Annalena used a food mill to give her this:

Taste this.  You will want to add salt and pepper.  And if you stop here, you have a vegan soup that is fat free.  Look back ragazzi:  we didn't saute' anything, did we?    But if you want to do the finishing touch which really does push this soup over the top, stir in anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of creme fraiche (or, heavy cream if you don't have the creme fraiche around).  You won't see much of a difference, but this is what you get:

And you will get 2.5 quarts of it.  Taste it again, after the dairy goes in, to see whether or not you need more salt.  You might.  

The leeks were worth it, weren't they?  After all, you really have all of these veggies in your house, or if you shop locally, these veggies are what you'll find.  You may even find some leeks from a local farmer,  who has them stored in his or her root cellar.  

Please make this soup.  How much better can it get

One potato, two potato: Sicilian saffron potatoes

Ragazzi, Annalena is still very much in a daze from her trip to Sicily.  It was truly like nothing she could have imagined, in so many ways.  She continues to play with Sicilian recipes, learning them,  making tweaks, and so on.


After her first trip to Italy, Annalena was stunned to see how many potatoes were eaten.  She had associated potatoes with gnocchi, but nothing else.  Something to know, ragazzi, about the way  Italians, and Sicilians eat:  if you go out to a restaurant, you will NOT be offered something that is deemed a home dish.  Hence, you will rarely see chicken offered, especially in Sicily.  Indeed, Annalena was dying for a taste of cucuzza soup while she was in Sicily.  Not to happen.  "We make that at home," is what she was told.  And so it is, even with things like the dish presented here. Again, it has all the hallmarks of basic home cooking:  simple ingredients, albeit one costly one (or at least potentially costly, as we will learn), and very satisfying.    It combines several ingredients, in ways Annalena would not have thought of:  potatoes and saffron, and then saffron and oregano.  But it works.  It works wonderfully, ragazzi.  Try it. You will be amazed at the flavor.

We start with 2 pounds of potatoes.  Use any type you like, but this one may actually work best with big, boiling potatoes, like red bliss, or something along those lines.  You're going to be cooking these potatoes for a while.    Peel them, and then cut them into big chunks.  No dicing like for our hash, carini, no no no.  Now put them aside, while you put two tablespoons of olive oil, in a BIG pot:

Ok, it's a pan, so whatever.  And now add, for two pounds of potatoes , half of a chopped red onion (Sicilians seem to favor red onions).  Put that into the hot olive oil, and saute' for just about two minutes

When that's done, add the potato chunks, and toss them in the oil

And now, the fun begins.  Cover these with ample salted  water, and combine it with a big, BIG pinch of saffron.  Now, saffron is VERY expensive.  But here's the thing:  with this one, you don't need the big fine strands that make it so dear.  There is always "saffron dust" during the processing of the crocuses used to make the stuff, so use the powder if you have it.  Don't break the bank.  Add it to the water, and cover the potatoes with a pot cover.  Lower your heat (this is important)

You need to lower the heat, because to make this dish correctly, you are balancing soft and firm.  The potatoes are, of course, going to cook from the outside in, and you want the outside nice and soft and creamy, while the inside should remain a bit "al dente."  Annalena's recipe said it would take 40 minutes.  It didn't.  It took about twenty.   Test after twenty with a soft knife: point it into a potato chunk:  is it the texture you want?  If it is, we move on.  If not, go to the next step.  

Let's assume they're ready.  So, now you drain them: 

See that beautiful yellow color?  These are not yukon golds, ragazzi. That color came from the saffron.  And it brought flavor with it too.  You also have those sauteed onions in here.  

After you've drained the stuff (and you can save the water if you like and use it again), dust these, with one of the characteristic features of Sicilian cooking:  dried oregano .  (To those of us who love oregano, the fresh and dried are two different herbs, and both useful.  Do not ask  Annalena to pick which one she likes better.  Ok, you win:  she likes the dried).

That's about a tablespoon of dried oregano, and it's not too much.  Just stir things together gently, so that the potatoes do not break apart, and ... you're there.  Have them with fish, or a grilled piece of meat, or just use them as they are. They are really, really good.

You'll be happy to have these in your repertoire, ragazzi.  And now, when someone asks you what they should give you as a gift, ask for saffron.   That's what Annalena does. 

One potato, two potato: Annalena is back, with two dishes involving our favorite vegetable: POTATOES

Ciao, ragazzi!  Annalena makes no apologies for her absence.  She's getting old.  It was the holiday season.  And she's busy.  Not just with cooking, but with so many other things.  She's decided to add French, or at least a little of it, to her  language repertoire, and her resolutions, well, let's not get into those.

So, to ease us all back , she's giving us two potato recipes.  Both easy, both delicious.  We need that, don't we?  And who does not like potatoes?      This is a recipe that she got from her CSA, and she calls out the wonderful folks at Rustic Roots, who helped by, well, providing the ingredients.

There are constant arguments about what constitutes "hash," as a dish.  If you feel this isn't hash, you can call it whatever you want.  Just make sure you make it, and eat it.  It's delicious.

Here's a picture of the ingredients:

Doesn't look like much, huh?  Indeed, what we have are a pound of potatoes (these are the blue ones, with their skins on), a chopped yellow onion, 3/4 teaspoon each of hot pepper and fennel seeds,  and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  What you don't see, is the olive oil.  Or the salt.  Here we go.

First, add two tablespoons of olive oil to a wide pan.  Annalena used a non stick, and she recommends that here, because this is a dish that does have a tendency to stick (potatoes and onions are loaded with sugars, ragazzi, and browning is the formation of caramel.  Figure it out).  When the oil heats up, add the potatoes and the fennel seeds.  Lower your heat, and cover the pan.  Uncover it every 4-5 minutes and stir the stuff up, and let it cook for 15 minutes.  This is what Annalena's pan looked like at the end of that 15 minutes: 

You can see the brown bits, can't you?  What you can't see is that the chopped potatoes are softening.  That comes about, in large pot, from covering the pan.  The potatoes give up water, it can't all get away, and the potatoes steam in it.  Meanwhile, the surface touching the hot oil, browns.

Isn't that neat?  We get steaming and frying, in one pan.  

So what do we do next?  Now, we add the onions, and the hot pepper.  If you are adverse to hot pepper, cut back , but please do not leave it out completely.  The 3/4 teaspoon does not sound like a lot, but if you have good quality hot pepper, it is.  

This is what you get, after about four minutes of cooking.  Again, this is done with the pan covered, and the heat at medium.  After four minutes, uncover the pan, stir the stuff, and cook for another 6 minutes or so.  

Here's what we've got after 7 minutes.  At this point, taste a potato bit.  You may want to add some salt.  In fact, Annalena is CERTAIN you will want to add salt.  But don't yet.    Because after you cook this mix for   ten minutes, you're going to add that soy sauce, stir it all together, and let it cook for another 3 minutes.   Soy sauce has a ton of salt in it, so you want to taste this at the end of the soy sauce cookery.  You probably WILL want to add salt anyway.  And this is what you have after about 30 minutes of cooking:

Everytime Annalena checked the potatoes, she pressed them down onto the pan, using a  spatula.  This gives more crispiness, and who does not like that? 

Most likely, this dish would work without the fennel, and without the hot pepper,  with no seasoning at all.  But potatoes, ragazzi, are one of nature's great sponges, or canvases, or whatever you like.  So let your imagination run free, and use other things.  Use other forms of potato.  Annalena thinks this would work with sweet potatoes too, and indeed, may very well work, with any of the root veggies.  So, create your own starchy veggie hash.  You won't regret it.  Indeed, after you've made it, Annalena thinks you'll probably wish you made more. 

Post Thanksgiving Temple Days, and repurposing with a vegeance: beet, sauerkraut and cabbage soup

Yes, ragazzi, let us face it:  we are confronted with Thanksgiving leftovers, and guilt.  The leftovers will, eventually, find their way out of our lives, but guilt... well, a bad emotion, but one nonetheless.

Perhaps there are some of you wondering:  how do I use the leftovers in a healthy, non fattening way?  Well.... Annalena is sorry to be the one carrying the news:  if your mashed potatoes were made with butter and cream (as hers were), they cannot be made healthy and non fattening.  Indeed, it amazes Annalena sometimes, how people try to figure out how to make a high calorie ingredient a low calorie one:  it is not a matter of watering the vanilla (you remember the Mary Tyler Moore episode, don't you?).  So eliminate the guilt, own the situation, and either deal with the not so healthy leftovers, or share them (that is what Annalena is doing with her desserts), or... balance them with something less than obnoxious nutritionally.

Annalena read this recipe, in a column about a restaurant where they try to reuse everything: this extends to taking eggshells, and using them as molds for custards,  making carrot top green sauce, etc.  This soup was one that was based on - she kids you not - the juice from a jar of sauerkraut.

Now, this did not seem strange at all to Annalena, as she saves her pickle juice for making rye bread (and it's  GOOD ragazzi).  She and her gal pal Sue also use their potato water to bake bread (you will get higher loaves). So repurposing is good.  And the soup recipe had a lot of things in it that are good for you, filling, and not so costly.  So, ragazzi, let's try to make this.  Put a bowl of it next to your loaded turkey sandwich (or your shepherd's pie), and you may not be tempted to eat a second portion of either.

We begin with beets:  a pound and a half of them.  This is the time to use the beets that are as big as your head.  (Annalena recalls a story where her beloved trainer Emily ordered 3 pounds of beets on line and got one, large beet).  Annalena's were not that large, but two were more than sufficient. You put these in a non reactive pot, 1/3 covered with water, and seal this with foil.  Then bake it at 375 for "as long as it takes."  The bigger the beet, the longer.  It took 75 minutes for Annalena to get hers to the point where a knife pierced the beet to the center, easily.  These will be hot:  VERY hot.  Leave them alone, and then let them cool:

You can see the size of Annalena's beets, next to an avocado.  If you wait until they are cool, and run them under cold water, they will peel, easily.  You don't want the stems of the beets, so get rid of them and cube the critters:

Next, you will want some red cabbage sauerkraut.  Look for it.  It's available.  And it is becoming more common.  This is the type Annalena uses:

You want a cup and a half of that, or all of it, if you see fit.  There will be some juice left over. Save it for now.  

Finally, you will want savoy cabbage.  You can use a regular cabbage, but savoy is better, and it is sweeter.  Here's a savoy:

And you'll want to thinly slice about a  half pound of that.  If you start with the outside leaves, which you can do, you will use a lot more than  you think:

Now, dice up a big fennel bulb, and a large  yellow onion (although given the theme of this soup , you could use red too):

Finally, slice 9 garlic cloves.    

Let's go through those ingredients:  beets, cabbage, sauerkraut, fennel, onion, garlic.  Not an expensive one in the bunch, and certainly we're getting our share of fiber. 

We start by adding the onion and fennel to a   pot containing a film of olive oil, and cooking to translucence:

Now, you add the garlic, the cabbage, the beets.  Remember Annalena told you to keep the sauerkraut juice? Measure it.  You are going to want a cup and a half, and if you don't have it, (Annalena didn't), well, go drain some pickles. In a pinch, you can make vinegar water by adding a quarter cup of vinegar to a cup of regular water, but you SHOULD have some pickles in your house.    First, put a half cup of the sauerkraut water into the pot, and then add enough water to cover the vegetables.  Bring this to a simmer, and add the rest of your pickle juice/sauerkraut juice/vinegar water, and let the stuff cook, for about fifteen minutes:

Taste it.  You want a distinctly sour, tangy taste.  You also want a strong salt element.  Adjust as need be, with vinegar (cider vinegar is best here, not red wine vinegar), and then, serve it forth:

To Annalena, this soup cries out for rye or pumpernickel bread, preferably with good butter.  Be generous with the bread, stingy with the butter. Or, if you have boiled potatoes lying around, dice them up and add them to the soup and make it a meal.  It's vegan, it's sort of biodynamic, and it's GOOD.  Not so many calories, eh?    A way to clean out that pumpkin pie.  

Enjoy ragazzi. We want our plumbing clean before the Christmas cookie orgies begin

repurposing with a twist: Annalena makes Shepherd's Pie

Well, carini, Annalena hopes you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  You all ate too much, or most of you did, and now, what do you do?

In the days to come, Annalena will be advocaing what she refers to as "temple days" as we repent for what we've done, but for now, how about some Shephard's Pie?

Does that look good?  It is.  And you can make it SO easily if you have on hand some leftover vegetables from the feast (and you know you do), and some ground meat.  Being the traditionalist that Annalena is, she makes hers with ground lamb, but it will work with other  proteins.  You could probably make it with ground turkey, or with chunks of meat or turkey.  This is a dish designed to use up leftovers. Annalena is going to frame a canvas for you, and then suggest you color outside of the lines.  

Here's where we begin.  First, your leftovers.  Here are Annalena's;

What you can see in there are carrots (the new cliche':  rainbow carrots), which she had roasted very hot, with ginger, and some steamed string beans.  Originally, there were almonds in them, but someone ate them all (she thinks it was the Guyman, but he's not fessing up).  And of course, underneath, REAL mashed potatoes.   Annalena made them with cream and butter, so we are of course, out of the "temple day" mode immediately.  And that's ok.  

And since this is SHEPHERD's pie, and  Annalena did get all of her turkey out of the house, she went to what it is supposed to be:  lamb.  She had a pound of ground lamb, and a large onion.

And here's what you do.   You add some olive oil to a pan, and add the onions.  When they are translucent, you break up the lamb, and add it.  Make sure to put in some salt, and don't be afraid to add some seasonings. Decide how you like your lamb, and then go for it.    When the lamb loses most of its pinkness, add your veggies. Annalena cut up her carrots, and also pulled out her green beans, or as many as she could:

You are almost there.  Taste this and season it if you need to.  If you want to be a real stickler, when the pink is gone,  then drain this all to get rid of any lamb fat.  Annalena says:  why bother?   Put all of this into a glass baking dish (this is enough for an 8x8).  Then, put about 2 ounces of grated cheese over that, then the potatoes, and then some more cheese. Again, you can change these quantities.  Note that Annalena is NOT doing what a lot of these recipes call for, which is whipping up the potatoes again, with more liquid, making peaks, etc, etc.  Geez, Louise, it's LEFTOVERS.  

Annalena does not know how you feel, but that looks pretty good to her. And then, bake it at 400, for 30 minutes.  You may need more or less time.  Follow your nose.  You'll smell when it's done:

Now, if there is any higher form of praise:  Annalena was planning to make one of the  Guyman's favorite lunches: pasta with caponata, and some fish.  He wants this.  He won't admit it, but he wants it.  What can a woman say?

What she can say, ragazzi, is tomorrow, we do go the way of the temple, and learn how to make a very nourishing, very cleansing... beet and cabbage soup. 

Cooking as reminiscense , comfort, and so many things: ribollita

Today, ragazzi, a dish that you may have heard of:  ribollita.  Literally "reboiled," and ending with an "a" because we are reboiling soup,  and soup is feminine in Italian.  At first, Annalena thought that this was the dish du jour (or, more appropriately, dish del giorno) because, well, she wanted to make it, it's comfortable, the Guyman and she are on a soup adventure this week (tune in), and things like that. But as she made the dish and sat, thinking about things during a wonderful concert last night, she thought of how this dish conjures up some of the things you tend to forget, or not appreciate when they happen.  See, for many, MANY years, a chef named George (she won't give his full name and embarrass him: he wouldn't like that).  George sent out the ribollita - which was always on the cold weather menu as a freebie- anytime we were there.  It was as close to a HUG as we could get.  The restaurant was, and is very busy, and George was in charge. So, hope this satisfies you Mr K.

Ribollita is a Tuscan soup.  And those of you who know something about Tuscan cooking, will see it from some of the characterisics: it is LOADED with greens.  There are beans in it.  (HINT:  if you see beans and greens in a dish, think Tuscany).  It also uses water as a broth, not stock (another hint).  And it uses stale bread.  (Four for four.  Italian cooks are smiling).  When you see the ingredients , you will wonder; however, ragazzi, this dish exceeds what you expect from the parts of it.  HOW much it exceeds, depends on your care and attention.

Let's begin.  First,  let's show the ingredients:

If you are having trouble seeing and distinguishing, what we have are black kale (Tuscan kale, lascianto kale, dinosaur kale, it's all the same),  regular kale, swiss chard, plain cabbage, some white carrots, and in the back, onions and potatoes.  The quantities of these vegetables will vary, but you should have at least a good quantity of the Tuscan kale.    And let's not forget:

Three cups of these, or more.  Now, Annalena cooked these, and they are "cassoulet" beans.  Canellini are traditional, but use a small white bean. Whatever you have. AND COOK THEM YOURSELF IT IS NOT HARD.   You know how Annalena feels about canned beans. 

Get about 2/3 of those beans, cooked soft, and puree them in their cooking water:  whatever is left:

Let's now go back to our veggies.  Chop up the onions, and get them going in a few tablespoons of olive oil, in the BIGGEST soup pot you have (Annalena is NOT kidding about this):

While these are cooking, chop up the carrots real fine.  You can do this in the food processor, and also, peel and cut the potatoes.  Use something like yukon golds. You want about a pound.  Here's the part that Annalena likes the best:  you are going to mix all these vegetables together and put them in at the same time.  BUT FIRST: get a few tablespoons of good quality tomato paste, mix it up in some water to dissolve it, and stir it into the onions. Now add the bean puree  And after you've done that, just pile up the veggies. Oh, yeah, add a cup of celery too;

That looks pretty crowded doesn't it? Well, we're going to be adding more stuff.  Get 8 cups of water, and SLOWLY add it at the side.  It will go in, just be patient.  Finally, it's time to add a cook's trick:

This little secret ingredien is the rind of parmesan cheese. Save your cheese rinds if you can't get them elsewhere, and if you happen to see them, buy them.  They will add flavor everywhere you add them.  You should generally look for a BIG piece so you can pull it out, but Annalena likes to eat the small ones, so she doesn't care.  You put all of this on top of the greens, cover the pot, and let it cook.  It WILL cook down. Here's how it looks after fifteen minutes:

See what Annalena means?  And then, at the end of 45 minutes:

Looking good. We could eat this, but then, it wouldn't be ribollita.  No, sir.  So, what you do now is you let the soup sit to cool down.  You always make ribollita in the cold weather, so don't worry about how you're going to move this to your fridge, just let it cool at room temperature.  

Next day, get some stale country style bread. Annalena had a loaf of sourdough, as she usually does.  Use the soft white part, and put it right on top of the soup:

Stir it in, bring the thing back to a simmer, cover the pot, and let it cook for thirty minutes. The bread will dissolve some, but not completely:

Don't you think it looks good?  It looks BETTER in your bowl, with lots of grated parmesan (this is Tuscany, so we use parmesan), a drop or two of good olive oil, and some black pepper.  There are variations on this using way more tomato than this one, and sometimes, you're told to put it under the broiler to get a crunch topping. all well and good.   This version is fine to Annalena.  

And you've got TONS of soup here ragazzi, maybe four quarts. Well, guess what?  It's time to share. And sharing is what we need right now.  Share it with EVERYONE .  Give someone a bowl of hot soup today.  Annalena guarantees you, you'll love it.  So will they