RIBOLLITA (Tuscan vegetable soup with bread)

Soup - Complete meal




Cannellini beans (Tuscan white beans), 2 jars
Swiss chard, roughly chopped 8 oz.
Potatoes, thinly sliced 2 medium
Carrots, thinly sliced 2 medium
Onions, thinly sliced 2 medium
Leeks, thinly sliced 1 (only the white part)
Zucchini, thinly sliced 2 medium
Celery sticks, sliced 2
Black Tuscan cabbage, shredded 10 oz
Savoy (or green) cabbage, shredded 10 oz
Peeled tomatoes, crushed 1 can
Italian bread (preferably ciabatta from the day before), sliced 1 lbs
Grated parmesan, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil as desired

Being Tuscan Cabbage really hard to find (if not impossible) you can use 1 lb of Savoy or green cabbage (or a mix of the two).

Drain and rinse the beans.
In a really big pot put all the vegetables and water at least to cover all of them.
Bring the soup to a boil then lower the heat and let it gently boil for at least 2 hours, adjust with salt and pepper (optional).
At this point add the bread and let it absorb all the liquid.
The day after, warm the soup again (ribollita means boiled twice) and serve it drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and parmesan.
Another way to serve this soup is layering bread, vegetables and olive oil, finishing with parmesan. In this way you can warm the soup in the oven or freeze it, divided into portions.