Meatless Monday with Ribollita Tuscan Vegetable Soup

Hello and thanks for joining us for Meatless Monday. We took the Meatless Monday pledge as part of our CSR business initiatives in support of reducing meat consumption one day per week to improve the health of people and the planet. Every Monday we share a different vegetarian recipe and try to keep them as simple as possible.

There is nothing better than a warm bowl of soup in the fall and on the menu tonight is a delicious Ribollita which is a hearty Tuscan vegetable soup. Ribollita (which translates to “reboiled” in English) is a popular soup and known for its resourcefulness as it’s traditionally made with leftover vegetables and bread from the week.

Today’s recipe comes from A Food Centric Life, the fantastic website of Chef Sally Cameron about “inspiring home chefs to create great tasting food with healthy recipes, easy techniques, and fantastic food finds”. The recipe originally called for chicken stock and pancetta but Chef Sally gave vegetarian suggestions which we took and they were delicious.

Beautiful image of Ribollita Tuscan Vegetable Soup courtesy of afoodcentriclife.com

Ingredients (serves 6)

• ½ pound dried cannellini beans (soak the night before)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for serving if desired
• 2 cups diced onion (1 jumbo or 2 medium)
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
• 1 cup diced carrots (about 3 medium)
• 1 cup diced celery (peel it first, about 3 stalks)
• 1 cup diced fennel
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 28-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, drained, chopped and juice reserved
• 4 cups chopped kale (ribs cut out, then chop)
• ½ cup fresh chopped basil leaves
• 4 cups vegetable broth, preferably homemade or low sodium
• 2 cups sourdough bread cubes, crusts removed
• ½ cup or more grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cover the Cannellini beans with cold water to cover by several inches, cover with plastic film and refrigerate overnight.
2. Drain the beans and place them in a large pot with 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 45-60 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt and continue simmering until beans are tender, about 15 minutes longer.  Set the beans aside in their liquid to cool.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a 5-6 quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft and translucent. Add garlic, carrots, celery, fennel, salt, back and red pepper. Cook until vegetables are tender, about 7-10 minutes. Add tomatoes and reserved juice, kale, basil and simmer another 7-10 minutes.
4. Drain the cooled beans, reserving the liquid. Puree half of the beans  with a little of the liquid in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Add bean puree to the pot with the vegetables, then add the remaining whole beans.
5. Add any remaining bean liquid to a large measuring cup and add enough vegetable broth to measure 4 cups. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add bread cubes and simmer another 10 minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired.

This soup is great fresh and even better as a leftover. It does tend to be on the thick side because of the bread so you can add more stock if you prefer a thinner soup.

We encourage you to visit the Meatless Monday website and join us in taking the pledge to reduce meat consumption one day per week. It’s easy with simple and delicious recipes like this one. Spread the word at work to promote the value of CSR business initiatives and make your green call centre, office, factory, shop, restaurant, hotel or salon even greener.

If you’re interested in great recipes and photography, check out A Food Centric Life when you’re done here.

Enjoy!
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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.