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- Course: Main Course
- Total Time: Half Day
- Skill Level: Moderate
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Favorited: 26 Times
Can be made ahead of time.
Cookbook
Italian Bread Soup
When I worked at a publishing company on Park Avenue South in Manhattan, I used to splurge (if several lunches a week can be called splurging) on big takeout cups of ribollita from a nearby Italian restaurant, now defunct. This is a hearty but colorful and fresh-tasting rendition, perfect for a winter lunch.
Yield
: Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
- ½ large onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 ribs celery
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ pound dried navy beans (1¼ cups)
- 2 quarts vegetable stock or water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig dried or fresh rosemary
- 1 large head escarole or other bitter greens
- 2 thick slices crusty white bread such as panella, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
- 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
- ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, stemmed and chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons good-quality extra virgin olive oil
Equipment:
- 4-quart slow cooker
Directions
Coarsely chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and place the vegetables in a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the beans, stock, bay leaf, and rosemary and cook, covered, on the low setting for 5 hours, until the beans are tender but still hold their shape.
Thoroughly wash the escarole and chop the leaves crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips; add the escarole to the cooker, along with the bread, tomatoes, and parsley, and stir gently to push the greens down into the liquid. Cover the cooker and continue to cook on the high setting for 30 minutes, or until the greens are tender. Season to taste with salt and plenty of pepper. Remove and discard the rosemary stem and bay leaf and serve the soup in deep bowls, drizzled with the oil.
© 2005 Stewart, Tabori & Chang
