If you are using dried beans, soak them. Instructions always say overnight, but the beans I buy are fresh enough to require only 2-3 hours soaking time. Given they’re being used in soup–meaning they will be soaking even longer, use your judgement and soak accordingly.

Greens can be extremely dirty. I wash by placing them in a giant bowl, filling it with cool water, and swishing the leaves about. I drain and repeat until the water is clear, then roll the leaves tightly in a clean dishtowel.

I then tear, cut, and shred greens from their stems, tossing them into the same (cleaned) bowl I used to wash them. I use scissors, my hands, and a sharp chef’s knife.

Once you’ve prepped all the vegetables, heat a generous 1/4 cup/60 ml olive oil over medium heat in the soup pot. Add the onion, carrot, garlic, celery, thyme, and parsley. Let the aromatics cook gently, without taking color, for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally. If the vegetables start browning, turn the heat down.

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes or canned tomatoes, beans, greens, and potato cubes. Turn the vegetables and greens around in the oil to saturate them. Saute for a few minutes, then add water to just cover.

Season with salt and pepper. Add parmesan rind, if using. Add pancetta, turkey, and red pepper flakes, if using.

Bring ribollita to a gentle boil, then turn down to a simmer and allow soup to cook for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.

Check for salt, tasting as the soup cooks.

If you are using a smoked turkey leg, check after two hours: it should be tender enough to shred. Remove the leg to a plate or bowl and allow to cool. Shred meat into the soup. Return bone to soup or discard; up to you.

The ribollita may be simmered another hour or two and served immediately, but it’s best to simmer it another hour, then allow it to cool completely and refrigerate it, either in its pot, if the pot may be refrigerated, or transferred to a refrigerator safe container, and held up to five days. Reheat–reboil–the ribollita when desired.

When ready to serve, slice the stale bread and either lightly toast–in toaster, under a broiler, whatever method suits–or simply serve as is. You can rub the bread with a freshly cut garlic slice, and dribble olive oil over it, or leave it as is. Place bread at the bottom of wide soup bowls and pour ribollita over. Serve with additional olive oil at the table, for diners to add as wished.

Ribollita keeps well, refrigerated, up to six days. It improves with keeping. It also freezes well.

Notes:

As noted in the post, you can use canned beans, but they do not work as well here: prepare for mushiness.

Traditional Ribollita recipes call for mashing or blending some of the beans and leaving the remainder whole in the soup. This gives a pleasant texture, and you can do this. After all the prep, my tendinitis was expressingly itself quite loudly, and that was that. Should you have similar issues, try mashing beans against the side of the soup pot, or using a potato masher directly in the soup, which is horribly untraditional. My sincere apologies to Italian cooks everywhere. I hope you can forgive me.

For soup-making purposes, all measures are approximate. Only you know how many people you’re feeding and what their appetites are like. Greens are sold in 8-ounce bunches here in the United States (227 Grams), and this recipe reflects that. Feel free to use more, less, or substitute what is available in your area. Many ribollita recipes, including Carol Field’s, call for cabbage. I didn’t include it here because much as we like soup, we can only eat so much.

You want a sturdy bread that won’t turn to pap in the soup. Field recommends Dark Tuscan Bread, or the famous Saltless Tuscan Bread. Wolfert suggests “stale country bread,” which is exactly what I used.