Vinonudos Culinarium: With Ribollita and Chianti against the Autumn Blues

Every year – when it turns grey and cold outside – the ribollita season begins in our home. This Tuscan peasant soup is one of our absolute favorite autumn dishes, because few other foods warm you up in such a wonderfully comforting way. The abundance of flavors from root vegetables, celery, plenty of cavolo nero, savoy cabbage, and large white beans combined with herbs and olive oil—and its thick, almost stew-like consistency—make it perfect for the stormy, chilly season.

Ribollita is anything but fast food: you have to take your time with it. As the name suggests, the soup is “re-boiled”—that is, after being prepared the day before, it is reheated in the oven with stale white bread. Finally, the finished ribollita is topped with the best olive oil. And Sangiovese goes into the glass. For this year’s season opener we had Pruneto’s Chianti Classico Riserva alongside it. And it was truly a match made in heaven. On his small estate in Radda in Chianti—the highest wine-growing village in Chianti—Massimiliano Lanza produces wines of great elegance and precision. At the same time, his wines show an irresistibly ripe, subtle Sangiovese aroma that pairs perfectly with ribollita.

Ingredients

• 3 carrots

• 3 stalks of celery

• 1 zucchini

• 2 onions

• 1 small piece of celeriac

• 2 potatoes

• 1 can of tomatoes (pelati)

• 1 bunch of cavolo nero (Tuscan kale)

• 1/2 head of savoy cabbage

• 500 g dried white beans

• 2 garlic cloves

• 10 peppercorns

• 1 bunch of sage

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 sprig of rosemary

• 1 bunch of thyme

• Olive oil

• 3 liters water

• 6 slices stale white bread (ideally sourdough ciabatta)

Preparation

• Soak the dried white beans in water overnight.

• In a large pot, roughly dice the carrots, onions, zucchini, potatoes, and celeriac; slice the celery. Sauté everything in olive oil for about 10 minutes.

• Remove the tough stems from the cavolo nero and roughly chop the leaves. Roughly chop the savoy cabbage and canned tomatoes as well. Add everything to the pot.

• Pour in 3 liters of water. Add rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves. Let the soup simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper afterward.

• The next day, drain and rinse the beans. Cook them in 1.5 liters of water with the sage, garlic cloves, and peppercorns for about 60 minutes.

• Add the cooked beans along with some of their cooking liquid to the soup.

• Line an ovenproof dish with the stale bread, pour the soup over it, and bake for 25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180°C (355°F). During the first 15 minutes, stir occasionally to break up the bread.

• Serve and drizzle with olive oil.