Ribollita

I have to get something off my back before I dive into this post, I didn't pour a glass of wine until I was smelling the deliciousness of garlic cooking in olive oil.  Now that I have that out of the way, I can also proudly admit that this recipe is another favorite from Runner's World (see Red Velvet cupcakes...I think they are on here).  As with most recipes, I used the actual recipe as a guideline and altered where I saw fit and it seemed to work for me.  Of course, you can't go wrong when trying a recipe from a Chef!

Had to add this...Chef Matt Connors, a nine-time marathoner with a 3:05 PR, prepares a hearty prerace Tuscan soup. By Matt Connors Image by Yunhee Kim From the December 2008 issue of Runner's World.

Ribollita

Italians make ribollita, which means "reboiled," from leftovers and cook the soup twice before eating. Make it with whatever light-colored beans you have on hand.

2 cups cannellini (or any white bean), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 large Yukon gold potato, diced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 bunch kale, chopped roughly
1 cup canned tomatoes, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
3 slices day-old, crusty white country bread
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)


Mash one-cup cannellini beans in a bowl with the back of a fork until smooth. Set aside.

Gently cook garlic, rosemary, onions, celery, carrot, and kale in the olive oil for about 20 minutes in a heavy-bottomed soup pot, stirring occasionally. Add both mashed and whole cannellini beans, chicken stock, potato, and tomatoes.

Simmer gently for at least one hour. Add bread and simmer until it's completely dissolved into the soup. Taste.

Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve (preferably the next day), drizzled with olive oil and Parmesan. Makes four generous servings.

And here is what I did...
- Instead of cannellini beans, I used Northern, they are white.  I also used both cans in their entirety because it seemed wasteful not to. Unless you picture yourself using them on a salad or in another form, be bold and use both cans.
- Instead of fresh rosemary, I bought it in a jar, but that is just because the grocery store was out of fresh
- Can someone please define "large potato?" I used two normal sized looking potatoes
- 2 celery  = 3 in my book because what am I going to do with all this celery? In my honest opinion, no one actually eats celery because they like it, they eat it because they are pretending they are eating real food.  In soup, celery is 100% ok...it is also amazing with PB, which is probably how I will have to eat it so as not to waste it.
- Back on track...1 bunch kale is a lot of kale, but know that, like spinach, it shrinks [insert joke here].
- I used vegetable stock instead of chicken and still loved this recipe.
- What is with the bread? I felt weird about that, so I dismissed that step.
- Finally, if you feel so inclined to beef up this soup, pun intended, I added cooked, ground turkey and liked the added heavy.  It also helped the soup go a little further.
- One more thing, I had a green pepper that was looking too creepy to add to a salad, but I saved it to chop and add to the soup and it worked.  Look in your fridge and throw in those weird looking veggies instead of tossing them.  This can certainly be used as a bottomless pot stew.

Enjoy..and happy running!