From the outset I knew there wouldn't be many who would take on the challenge to make ribollita with me and now I fear I may have lost my only participant, my brother. After reading my second post yesterday he expressed some doubts about eating "mushy" bread and even questioned the authenticity of my photographs! No, I did not download those pictures from the internet, I took them myself, in my own kitchen of the food that I made! Apparently he was expecting a really complicated and interesting variation on the second night. If this were complicated, then how would I have time to do everything else? Perhaps he was cranky since it took him so long to make the soup the first night he didn't eat until midnight. Or maybe he didn't have a very tasty product to begin with since he couldn't find any fennel at Safeway.If any of you are still listening and have some ribollita left, then take the baked bread concoction and throw it back into the soup pot with the little soup that is left and heat it on the stove. Stir it up well to break up the slices of bread, serve it with a little olive oil and you have a ribollita. Bravo! By the way, this is the food of peasants, so if you haven't done so already, spend the money you saved on eating the same meal three nights in a row and get yourself some red wine to go with it.
With all the free time (and money) I saved making ribolitta, I did go shopping this afternoon. Since some people are suspicious of the photographs posted on this blog, I chose not to include a picture of tonight's meal (which looks very similar to last night's meal). Instead I am showing you the fruits of my labor today: purchases from Benetton, Rinascente and Zara.
P.S. If you haven't read the comments then you probably missed Heather's cautionary tale about going overboard with the parmesan rind. I, too, have felt the urge to just chop up a whole block of parmesan cheese and throw it in there, but you have to excercise restraint. When cooking the rind you will see the soup gets flecked with tiny spots of white cheese. Bigger is not better in this case since large bits will not integrate into the soup. To use her words, the ribollita was spiked with gooey "morsels" of parmesan. For the worm-a-phobic, those slimy bits in the soup could be quite disconcerting, and easily mistaken for something else, particularily if cabbage were also involved.
2 comments:
Oh you haven't lost me... in fact, there's so much ribollita left that I might make it to day 5 or 6 at this rate. Admittedly, last night's variation was poorly contrived on my end. Less than crusty bread, low olive oil reserves, and a lack of extra chicken stock sort of diminished my second round returns. I'm glad that it can all just be thrown back in the pot tonight.
Hi Meredith,
Love to read about your Roman adventures! Your ribollita recipe is quite interesting and I look forward to trying at least one or two day's worth. Your mom said you're leading some tour groups part=time and taking Latin classes. Just in case you have a ribollita craving, but very limited time, I'm sending a ribollita recipe you can do in 30 short minutes according to Rachel Ray. Looking forward to your continued accounts of Italian life. Ramie
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling at the table
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 fresh laurel leaf or 1 dried bay leaf - fresh bay is available in herb section of larger markets
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cans small white beans, such as Goya brand, cannellini beans may be substituted but look for cans marked "small white beans" on international foods aisle of market
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups tomato sauce
3 cups stale chewy Italian bread, crust removed and bread torn into pieces, about 1/2 a loaf
1 small white onion, thinly sliced or finely chopped, for garnish
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish
Heat a deep, heavy bottomed pot over moderate heat. Add oil, garlic, onions, carrots, celery and bay to the pot. Season vegetables with salt and pepper and saute until they begin to soften 5 to 7 minutes. Add beans, stock and tomato sauce. Bring soup to a boil over medium high heat. Remove lid and stir in torn stale bread. Stir soup and incorporate bread as it breaks down. When soup is becomes thick and bread is distributed evenly, adjust seasoning and serve the soup in shallow bowls. Some ribolittas are so thick, the spoon can stand upright. This is a subjective technique. Make yours as thick or thin, as you like with the addition of either more bread or additional stock or water.
Top shallow bowlfuls of soup with thinly sliced or finely chopped raw onion, a drizzle of extra- virgin olive oil and a generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.
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