Later that year for Christmas, my husband gave me a cookbook from Williams and Sonoma: "Florence: Authentic Recipes Celebrating Foods of the World." The book is full of gorgeous photography from all the main attractions, but most especially of the food and dishes you'll find when you visit. The first third of the book describes many of the foods that are native to Tuscany, including cured meats, tuscan olive oil (did you know it should smell like freshly cut grass?), wine (of course!), freshly baked bread and the variety of food from the fresh markets throughout the area. The rest of the book is devoted to recipes that will bring back wonderful memories if you've ever been there.
I found a recipe for Riboletta, which is a twice cooked vegetable stew part way through the book. It reminded me so much of the food we enjoyed while in Florence that I decided to give it a try. This recipe uses a lot of fall vegetables and is also a good way to clean out a produce drawer. While this recipe calls for specific veggies, I think you could use what you have on hand. The key ingredients seem to be the cavolo nero(kale), carrots, celery, onion and cannellini beans.
NOTE: This recipe takes 2 days to make. The first day you cook it on the stove top, then you cool it in the refrigerator. The second day it is baked in the oven.
1/2 cup olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 yellow onions (I used 1 sweet onion), diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 zucchini, chopped
1 cup diced plum tomatoes ( I used canned as fresh are horrible this time of year)
1 bunch cavolo nero (kale), tough, center strips removed, then sliced
1/2 head Savoy cabbage, chopped
1 bunch spinach, stemmed and chopped
3 cups cooked cannellini beans (I used 2, 15 oz. cans, rinsed and drained)
Thyme
Salt and pepper
5 slices, day old country bread, toasted
To make:
Saute the carrots, celery, onions and potatoes in the olive oil until just tender. (The directions said to add the zucchini at that time too, but I held off as I thought it would just turn to mush and I'm glad I did.)
Then add the tomatoes and 4 cups of water and stir well. I then added the zucchini, kale, cabbage and spinach and simmered it over low heat for 45 minutes.
I stirred in the beans and cooked it for an additional 10 minutes then added the thyme, salt and pepper and removed it from heat, cooled and stored in the refrigerator overnight.
The next day, place the bread in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish and spoon soup over top. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 20 - 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the bread. Continue to bake for an additional 10 minutes without stirring to allow a brown crust to form on the top. We topped it with grated Parmesan cheese when we served it.
While this was a good, hearty meal, I'm not sure this recipe had the flavor I was hoping for. I don't use much salt as a rule but this was one meal that needed a bit more than I used. It also just felt like something was missing and I immediately thought it could use a bit of bacon or pancetta. The smoky, saltiness of those might just do the trick.
I spotted Riboletta on the menu at Bottega, where it was described as "Italian Minestrone". I decided to order it to compare it to this one. It was earthy, hearty and had a bit of kick to it and along with the smoky, grilled bread, it was full of flavor. What I expected but so much more!
The next time I make this recipe I'll saute a bit of pancetta with the onions before adding everything else and sprinkle in some red pepper flakes during the first cooking for a bit of a kick. I might also use chicken broth or vegetable broth in place of the water just to punch up the flavor a bit more.
Have you been to Tuscany? What are your favorite food memories?
