Ribollita (florentine)

Total Time: 8 hrs 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 300 g dry whole wheat bread
• 400 g dry beans
• 1 bunch black cabbage
• 1/2 small savoy cabbage
• 3 bunches swiss chard
• 2 potatoes
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 onions
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 cook the beans in 2 litres of cold water. when cooked mash 3/4 of the beans and return to the bean stock reserving the rest for later.
• 2 in another pan cook one onion (finely sliced) in 8 tbsp of olive oil. when golden add the tomato puree diluted with a little stock. add the carrots and celery (chopped), swiss chard and cabbage (sliced) and the potatos cut into large chunks. season and cook for a few minutes with the lid on, now add the bean stock and cook for an hour .
• 3 add the bread in chunks and the reserved cooked beans, cook for a further 10 minutes and remove from the heat stir well and allow to cool.
• 4 put the soup into a large oven proof dish and cover with slices of onion, pepper and a little olive oil. put in a hot oven until the onion is golden. cool a moment and serve with a bowl of parmesan for sprinkling.