Three Bean Ribollita Food

THREE BEAN RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• Place bacon in a small stockpot, and place over medium heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 6 minutes. Remove bacon, and set aside. Add onions and garlic to hot bacon fat, and cook until onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Add carrots, celery, and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add northern, rattlesnake, and pinto beans, chicken stock, 5 1/2 cups water, and rosemary, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, and simmer 30 minutes. Add cabbage, and simmer until beans are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Ten minutes before soup is done, stir in salt and reserved bacon.
• Stir in bread, and simmer until bread has totally softened and just begins to break down, about 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Serve ribollita drizzled with a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkled with Parmesan, if desired.

TUSCAN-STYLE RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole over a medium heat and fry the onion, celery and carrot with a pinch of salt for 15 mins until soft. Add the garlic and chilli flakes, and cook for 1 min.
• Stir in the rosemary sprig, tomatoes, stock, beans and parmesan rind, if using, and bring to a simmer. Add the cavolo and cook, covered, for 10 mins. Stir through the bread and cook for several minutes more to warm through, then add the vinegar and season. Spoon into bowls, drizzle with a little more oil and sprinkle with the basil, if using, and the grated cheese.

PRESSURE-COOKER THREE-BEAN RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• Heat a 6- to 8-quart stovetop pressure cooker over medium-high, or set an electric pressure cooker to saute. Add bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add onion and garlic to pressure cooker, and cook until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add beans, carrots, celery, chicken stock, and the water. Season with salt and pepper.
• Stovetop:Secure lid. Bring to high pressure over medium-high heat; reduce heat to maintain pressure and cook for 50 minutes. Remove from heat, quickly release heat (loosely cover vent with a clean kitchen towel), then remove lid. Let stand 10 minutes. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Electric: Secure lid. Manually set cooker to 30 minutes and let it come to pressure. Once time is complete, turn off, quickly release pressure (loosely cover vent with a clean kitchen towel), then remove lid. Let stand 10 minutes. Bring to a simmer using the saute function.
• Add cabbage and rosemary, and cook, stirring, until cabbage is tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in bread and simmer until bread has softened and begins to break down, about 2 minutes. Stir in reserved bacon, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle with oil, if desired, and serve immediately.
• Remove cover, and stir in bread. Simmer soup until bread has softened and begins to break down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved bacon; adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

RIBOLLITA

Steps:

• Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it's hot, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic; sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain the beans; if they're canned, rinse them as well. Add them to the pot along with tomatoes and their juices and stock, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so the soup bubbles steadily; cover and cook, stirring once or twice to break up the tomatoes, until the flavors meld, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Fish out and discard rosemary and thyme stems, if you like, and stir in kale. Taste and adjust seasoning. Lay bread slices on top of the stew so they cover the top and overlap as little as possible. Scatter red onion slices over the top, drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with Parmesan.
• Put the pot in the oven and bake until the bread, onions and cheese are browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. (If your pot fits under the broiler, you can also brown the top there.) Divide the soup and bread among 4 bowls and serve.