Jared Ingersoll – 233

It’s way too cold for reading an article so make soup instead. This is one of my favourites. I’ve been making it around this time of the year for the last 20 years! There is a bit of chopping involved but it is really easy. Cook it, change it depending on what veg you have on hand. I not only hope you enjoy this recipe I hope you make it your own.

 

Ribollita

Serves 6-8

2 stalks chopped celery
1 chopped fennel bulb
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 small head of celeriac, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic
a few sprigs of thyme
a few stalks of rosemary
a pinch chilli flakes
a pinch coriander seeds (toasted and ground)
100ml extra virgin olive oil
2 litres of chicken stock (or water)
500g chopped tomatoes
200g kale, coarsely chopped
200g sourdough bread with crusts removed
100g rocket, coarsely chopped
250g cooked white beans
Optional: parmesan rind, ham, bacon, prosciutto skin.

 

1. Place all your vegetables (except kale and rocket) into a food processor and coarsely chop, you will need to do this in batches if it does not all fit into your processor.

2. Rinse out your food processor and blend about a third of your cooked beans and set aside.

3. Heat a heavy based saucepan with the olive oil, when pan is hot add your vegetables and spices, season well. You will want to stir this mixture from time to time, what will happen is that as the vegetables cook their juices will start to come out. As you continue to cook the juices will cook off and the mixture will again start to fry. You want to keep cooking until the vegetables just start to colour and become delicious and sweet – they should smell amazing at this stage. Now add your stock and parmesan rinds.

4. Allow this soup to come to the boil and add your kale, torn bread, beans and bean puree and cook for another 20 minutes.

5. The end result should be a really rich and thick soup (I normally make mine thick enough to serve on a flat plate).

6. Just before serving stir in your chopped rocket, then portion into bowls, drizzle over additional extra virgin olive oil and grated parmesan if you wish.