We love a warming soup, especially in Autumn as the nights draw in. We’ve got a lot of soup recipes up our sleeves but one of our favourite comfort soups for keeping cosy is Ribollita.

This is an Italian soup of greens, white beans and bread. It’s a perfect vehicle for late-growing chard , tomatoes and kale from our Food Garden. We’ve even used borlotti beans grown by our team member Helen who runs the allotment group for Harrogate Skills for living, but tinned cannellini or haricot beans are more usual.  You can also use up any squishy tomatoes and stale bread you have lurking in the kitchen so it’s a double plus that you are avoiding food waste.

Our other home-grown ingredients included bay leaves and rosemary. It’s so rewarding to grow your own ingredients but you can also often find rosemary growing in community gardens so keep your eyes peeled for this shrub.

So please enjoy one of our favourite recipes and let us know what you think

   

                                                      Ribollita – Italian Veg & Bread Soup 

Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)

2 sticks of celery, sliced ( leek also works well)

1 onion, chopped

1 cloves garlic 

1 carrot

200g kale ( or chard)

1 x 400g tin tomatoes ( or 6 ripe tomatoes if making in Autumn)

1X tin white beans ( cannellini or haricot)

300g bread ( stale, crusty bread is best)

1.2 litre veg stock

4 sprigs rosemary

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fennel seeds 

¼ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

Equipment:

Weighing scales

Chopping board

Sharp knife

Potato peeler

Cooking instructions:

1. Wash and dry the rosemary. Tie the sprigs and bay leaf together with string. Trim the stems and add any leftovers to the pan to make stock ( miss this out if you are using dried herbs)
2. Chop the Kale and put any tough stalks into the stock pot 3. Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic Peel the carrots and chop the carrots and celery into small pieces ( dice). 5. Put all the veg scraps into a large saucepan, cover with boiling water and put on the hob to gently simmer to make stock 6. Warm the oil in a large pan and when hot add the onions, chilli flakes and fennel seeds and fry for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic, chopped veg, rosemary and bay leaf to the pan, then reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 10- 15 minutes, or until softened and caramelised. 7. You need to drain the liquid from your stock pan now into a 1-litre jug. Then add it to the veg along with the tin of tomatoes, followed by the beans (juice and all).
8. Bring everything to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 10 minutes.  Then add the kale and cook for 10-20minutes more, or until the veg is tender and the liquid has thickened slightly. At this point you can fish out your rosemary stalk and bayleaf. Tear your bread into small chunks and add it to the soup.Continue to simmer gently for 5-10 minutes, until the bread has broken down and the soup is thick and creamy, stirring regularly. Season to with salt and black pepper, and a little squeeze of lemon juice before serving.