Maggie Barrett's Ribollita di Luana

After the excesses of the Thanksgiving table, all I wanted was a light, vegetarian end to our weekend, which is why a big plate of stewed vegetables sounded like the perfect Sunday dinner. But I should probably also note that as I'm nearing the end of The Omnivore's Dilemma, I've become frantically wide-eyed and horrified at the thought of most of the food accessible to me (with the exception of the goods on display at the farmer's market), so eating a pile of vegetables whose origin I (mostly) know just seems so much safer.

For now.

Maggie Barrett's recipe for ribollita (a twice-boiled bread-and-vegetable soup) is a quicker, breadless version of the classic Tuscan dish. Not only is the ingredient list simple and pure, but the preparation is peaceful and I wanted nothing more than a easy cooking experience after a relaxing day of lunching with friends and reading in bed. Sometimes Sunday cooking is about pulling out all the stops, but sometimes it's just about simplicity.

You cook most of the vegetables together in oil until they start to caramelize before throwing in water, tomatoes, the beans and the herbs. Although I halved the recipe (and left out the yellow squash, because yuck), I needed to use the same amount of water, so keep that in mind if you make this yourself. I wonder if the full recipe, cooked as Barrett indicated, would turn out too dry? After an hour of simmering, I added frozen leaf spinach instead of the fresh stuff, but I wouldn't do that again - I'd buy chopped frozen spinach. The leaf stuff is too long.

We drizzled our bowls with olive oil and sprinkled grated Parmigiano on top. We breathed the savory steam in deeply and ate our stew with crusty Portuguese rolls. The long-cooked vegetables were sweet and tender, the beans yielded gently in each mouthful, and the grassy oil complemented the verdant spinach. This isn't the prettiest dish you'll ever make, but it's so satisfying, healthy and warming you'll find yourself making it again and again. It's such good winter food.

Ribollita di Luana
Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
4 carrots, peeled and sliced intо 1/3 -inch-thick rounds
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
2 yellow squаsh, halved lengthwise and cut intо 1/3 -inch-thick slices
1/2 fennel bulb, cut intо 1/2 -inch-thick pieces
1/4 savoy cabbage, roughly chopped
2 15-ounce cans cannellini bеans, drained and rinsed
1 14-ounce can peeled whole tоmatоes, drained and divided intо pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon finely chopped sage
1/2 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 bay leaf
1 bunch spinach (about 6 cups), rinsed and roughly chopped
Red-pepper flakes
Extra-virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese, grated
Crusty bread, optional

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add thе oil. When hot, stir in thе onion, garlic, celery, carrots, zucchini, squash, fennel and cabbage. Season with salt. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add thе beans, tomatoes, herbs and 2 cups water. Seаson with more salt, thеn gently fold togethеr until combined. Press on thе solids so thеy are submerged in the water. Bring to a boil, then lower thе heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour. Stir gently only once or twice.

3. Fold in the spinach and simmer 30 minutes more. Remove thе bay leaf. Stir in more salt and red-pepper flakes tо tаste.

4. Ladle the soup into individual serving bowls. Drizzle each with olive oil and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. If you choose, serve with bread.

Comments

[Paige]

Thank you for planning tonight's dinner for me!

[Paige]

BTW, we'll be eating with Lahey bread, rising on the stove as I type. So double thanks.

[Lia]

Two of the recipes I made this weekend were similarly stewy and delicious. And Omnivore's Dilemma made me feel the same way about everything I ate! For a little while, at least.

[Lydia]

I never really think of ribollita as "light" food; it's such a hearty soup. But I love that it always makes me feel like I'm in Tuscany when I eat it! (The Omnivore's Dilemma is having the same effect on me, too.)

[Luisa]

Paige - my pleasure! :) You're baking up a storm! I love it.

Lia - I'm wondering if I'll ever look at chicken or steak the same way again.

Lydia - well, light, I suppose, compared to the Thanksgiving table ;). I'm glad Pollan's book is making me think about so much, but it also makes me despair...

[Julie]

This soup looks like a good place for Tuscan kale!

[Rachael]

I just made ribollita yesterday, but I used Giada's recipe. (I know how you feel about her, though.) I agree with you, it was just what I needed after Thanksgiving.

[Tanna]

My kind of food!!
Maybe we should be encouraged that a book can make us rethink the way we eat, if even sometimes.

[Grant]

Boy, you and I are on the same page about needing something light after Thanksgiving. This sounds great. I've always wanted to try making this soup. It's good to know bread isn't crucial in making it.

[Tana]

That looks fabulous. And congrats on keeping up with NaBloPoMo. I'm doing it, too, and there are not too many food blogs participating. Yours is great.

[ganda]

I highly recommend black Tuscan kale for this soup. It can be found at the Greenmarket from end of summer to early winter; you can also get it at most high end/organic grocers through the winter. It also goes by the names dinosaur kale, lacinato kale, cavolo nero and black cabbage. It's got a distinctive meaty flavor that I love for ribollita (though it's strange for Barrett to call it ribollita when it isn't "reboiled" with bread -- perhaps minestrone would be more appropriate?). I also like to add parmesan rinds to this kind of soup. Yum!