a few weeks back, i posted photos of my ribollita — italian bread stew. today’s tastebuds post will give you the recipe…
ribolitta:
chop carrots, celery, garlic, onions and bacon/proscuitto… however many you like. i generally chop 3 carrots, 2 celery stalks, a spoonful of garlic and half an onion (i don’t like onions). if i’m using bacon, i use half a standard package… proscuitto tends to be more expensive. and obviously if you don’t like something or want to make this vegetarian, leave it out.
pour a little olive oil into a deep saucepan and saute the vegetables til slightly soft. add in 2 cups of chicken broth (or veg broth if you’re making this vegetarian) and let it simmer for a few minutes.
add a jar of tomato sauce (sub in 2 cans of tomato sauce and 2 cans of chopped tomatoes if not using a store-bought jar). simmer.
add one can of white beans (cannelloni, white northern beans, whatever), a pinch of italian herbs and let simmer for however long you need it to. generally 10 minutes works but you can leave it simmering for as long as you need.
there are a few different ways to serve this dish. you can tear italian bread into pieces and add it to the stew as its simmering to soften the bread and make it more stew-like, or you can slice the bread and set it in the bottom of a soup bowl and pour the soup on top. either way… serve with a generous helping of reggianno cheese and some olive oil drizzled on top.