Tuscan Ribollita Soup

This hearty tomato-based Tuscan ribollita soup is thickened with leftover bread and is loaded with vegetables and beans and a hint of rosemary.

Life has felt pretty hectic ever since a few days before Thanksgiving.

Our little guy turned 4 over the weekend, so post-holiday it’s been party planning and celebrating with family & friends.

Like so many moms, I was in overachiever mode with decorations and the party theme.

I love Pinterest because it’s full of endless inspiration, but I definitely suffer from Pinterest-induced stress in an attempt to make everything perfect.

It took work, but I had to keep my priorities in check.

The point of a birthday party is that everyone has fun including the guest of honor. Impeccably designed decor is not required.

It feels like a break to put my feet up, collect my thoughts and write this post.

Between baking treats and everything else, I didn’t have much time to cook. As a result, I clicked into one-pot meal mode.

I made a comforting dump-it-all-in kind of meal, Tuscan ribollita soup. 

Tuscan Ribolitta Soup: The Ingredients

If you’ve never had ribollita, it’s a hearty tomato-based soup. You thicken the broth with leftover bread.

Tomato-based soups are my favorite kind of soup, so I am always looking for variations.

For that reason, I guarantee you will find at least one can of tomatoes in my pantry. It’s just so easy to turn them into a hearty and healthy meal.

Each tomatoey spoonful of Tuscan ribolitta soup has lots of vegetables like onions, celery and carrots.

Cannellini beans make it even more filling. I mash a quarter cup of the beans to thicken the broth along with the bread.

Simmering fresh rosemary sprigs as the soup cooks gives it a subtly herby flavor. Plus I love smelling anything with rosemary in my kitchen.

I added a little shaved Parmesan on top before I ate my first bowl.

Knowing I was going to stretch this soup over a few days, I saved some of the bread to add each time I reheated the soup on the stove.

Tuscan Ribollita Soup

• Author: Paige Adams
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4 1x

This hearty tomato-based Tuscan ribollita soup is thickened with leftover bread and is loaded with vegetables and beans and a hint of rosemary.

Ingredients

3 slices crusty bread, torn into pieces

1–1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 white onion, roughly chopped

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

3 carrots, trimmed, peeled & roughly chopped

3 garlic coves, minced

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup roughly chopped kale, stems removed

1–15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1–15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

4 cups vegetable stock

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 bay leaf

Shaved Parmesan for serving

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the bread, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper on a sheet pan and spread into a single layer. Bake for 12-15 minutes until toasted and golden brown.

Heat the remaining olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Then sauté the onions, celery and carrots until they start to soften, about 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant. Stir in the red pepper flakes, tomato paste and remaining salt and pepper. Then add the kale and tomatoes.

Using a fork, mash about 1/4 cup of the beans before adding the mashed beans and the whole beans into the saucepan. Add the stock, rosemary and bay leaf. Bring everything to a boil before reducing the heat and simmering for 20-25 minutes.

Remove the rosemary sprigs and bay leaf and discard. Add about a third of the bread and continue simmering until the bread softens and starts to thicken the soup, about 5 minutes.

Then top each bowl with pieces of the remaining bread, Parmesan and parsley before serving.