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This recipe pre-dates my 5 Ingredients philosophy.
White Bean & Black Cabbage Soup
Inspired by Jamie Oliver’s favourite Ribollita published in Jamie’s Italy.
Cavolo nero, or Tuscan black cabbage is one of my favourite winter greens. It’s becoming increasingly more available in Australia, I even found some for sale last year in the Woolworths supermarket in the remote town of Katherine in the NT. I haven’t tried this soup with other options but see the note below if you do have problems getting your hands on the real deal.
Like most good soups, this one improves with age and lends itself to reboiling so feel free to make a big batch and freeze for later.
If you decide to substitute in canned beans, don’t use the canning solution. Rinse the beans well and use chicken or vegetable stock in place of the bean cooking liquid.
Serves 6-8
300g (1 1/2C) white beans – navy, cannellini or borlotti soaked overnight in cold water
1 medium tomato, halved
1 small potato, halved
3 sprigs thyme
1 head garlic
2 red onions peeled & finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1t fennel seeds
400g tin tomatoes
500mL (2C) chicken stock
400g cavolo nero** roughly cut into 1cm wide ribbons
150g stale rustic bread (I used sourdough), torn into chunks
extra virgin olive oil, to serve
parmesan cheese, to serve
1. Drain soaked beans and place in a large saucepan with the tomato, potato and thyme. Cover generously with cold water and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the beans are cooked through and soft. This can take anywhere from 45mins to 1.5 hours. Drain beans reserving the cooking liquid and discarding tomato, potato and thyme.
2. While the beans are cooking, preheat oven to 180C and wrap head of garlic in foil. Roast for 25mins or until the garlic is super soft and mushy. Allow to cool then squeeze flesh out from each clove.
3. In another large saucepan, heat oil over a medium low heat and add onion, carrot, celery, chopped garlic and fennel seeds. Cover and cook stirring occasionally for approx 25mins or until vegetables are very soft and sweet but not browned. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer, stirring to break up the tomatoes.
4. Add stock and 1.25L (5C) of the reserved bean cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. If you don’t have enough cooking liquid top up with water. Stir through cavolo nero, drained beans, roasted garlic and bread and season well. Simmer, stirring periodically, for at least half an hour or until the bread texture is silky smooth and the soup is thick but not dry. If too dry moisten with extra cooking liquid or water.
5. Divide between warmed soup bowls and drizzle with a generous glug of your very best grassy extra virgin olive oil. Serve hot with cheese for grating passed separately.
**Note: Cavolo nero is also known as Tuscan black cabbage. 400g is about equivalent to the leaves from 2 large bunches of silverbeet. I’ve seen ribollita recipes that call for kale, red cabbage, silverbeet or even English spinach as substitutes for cavolo nero so feel free to experiment and let me know how you get on.
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