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- 50ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 big carrots, cut into cubes
- 1 large onion (about 150g) chopped
- A head of celery into cubes
- 200g of thickly sliced cavolo nero or dark green kale
- 3 red peppers diced into cubes
- 4 sprigs of thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 smashed garlic cloves
- 1 fresh chilli (or 1tsp of dried chilli powder)
- 800ml of chicken, vegetable or vegan stock (plus extra water if required)
- 200g fresh tomatoes or 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- A pinch of sugar
- 200g tin of chickpeas
- 200g tin of cannellini beans
- 50g of Parmesan, plus extra to serve
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Slices of old sourdough or stale bread
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.
Place the carrots, onion, celery, cavolo nero, peppers, thyme, bay leaves, garlic and chilli in the pan and cook over a medium heat until softened, stirring frequently, for about five minutes.
Add your stock, tomatoes and sugar and leave the pot to simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes or until a third of the liquid has evaporated.
Rinse the chickpeas and cannellini beans in a fine sieve and add them to the stock with the freshly grated Parmesan and allow to heat through. This is a good time to season, but remember Parmesan is salty, so be careful.
Scoop your ribollita into warm soup bowls. I like to serve with a slice of sourdough on top, toasted and brushed with butter, then grate extra Parmesan over the hot bread and soup.
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