Ribollita…Modified Of Course

Rei specifically asked for something that wasn’t a stew or a soup when I was flipping through the cookbooks on Wednesday morning before Rei went to school. And then you found a stew-ish thing for dinner… (Yep, sue me.~Terri)

I was perusing a few cookbooks we ever used (like the one above) or hadn’t used in a while. When we have the choice between French and Italian, we choose French. I am not a big pasta fan.

As I looked through the ingredient list for the Ribollita (p98), I noticed that we had most of the items which is always a plus. But then I saw the Kale, White Bean and Sausage Soup recipe on the next page and thought that the Ribollita would be good with sausage. I got Rei’s blessing and put together Zeke’s shopping list. I don’t remember any of this but don’t doubt it.

Rei was busy with homework (grrrr) so I got started with the chopping and Zeke put some snacks out. Rei will confirm that we are really bad with timing our meals and I am sure that Zeke has noticed this character flaw and got out some snacks to tide us over until the stew was ready. Yeah. And don’t get pissy with me about my homework! I don’t want to do it either, thank you very much. Also, our timing is one thing we really need to work on…(oof).

Our kitchen olive oil bottle was empty so Zeke refilled from our Buffalo Bill’s Brewery jug of olive oil from The Olive Crush, a shop in San Carlos. He gets it by the jug to avoid having to put bottles in the recycling bin. Plus we get to support a local business. Yay, we love avoiding unnecessary waste!

I started by sautéing some carrots and onions in some olive oil. I realized after I got them started that the other recipe suggested browning the sausage and then removing from the pan before sautéing vegetables. Oops! Zeke removed the Italian sausage from the casings before I put into the pan and hacked up into smaller pieces.

The recipe called for kale or chard and since we are kale-haters in our household, we opted for Swiss chard. Rei commented that it was odd that I was chopping it up into small pieces as the recipe instructed. Doesn’t it look like the chard is tiny, though?

I added the chopped celery and garlic to the carrots, onions, and sausage and then stirred in the chopped chard. And then a little more olive oil.

After about 10 minutes, I added the tomatoes overlooking the instruction to chop them up so I tore them into pieces instead. Rei thought this was hilarious especially when the tomato juices squirted all over me and the clean stove. I was cracking up as I took this picture because why wouldn’t you just take the tomatoes out again to cut them up?

The recipe called for homecooked cannellini beans but Zeke didn’t get to the grocery store early enough for me to soak and cook them, so we opted for canned beans. We drained and rinsed them before adding to the soup. I don’t think it made much of a difference, if I’m being completely honest. (I agree. This is a totally acceptably and highly encouraged shortcut.~Terri)

We were puzzled by the instruction to include the heel of a wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese but followed the instruction. Anyone else know why this is a good idea? I don’t think it ever fully melted down and I am assuming Zeke tossed it when he filled the leftover containers. That would make sense. Personally, I think it was kinda gross (I found a piece when I was serving and it was all bendy but not melted?? It was weird). (I found the big chunk when I was eating the last of the leftovers today. And I agree; it was gross.~Terri)

We added chicken stock to cover it everything , brought to a boil, reduced to a simmer, and covered to cook for about an hour.

Zeke chopped some of Rei’s leftover sourdough bread (the recipe called for day old bread) which we tossed into the pot.

The recipe called for chopped flat leaf parsley and torn basil and thyme leaves. The basil in the fridge had gone bad and it was too dark and cold outside to get the thyme so I chopped up the entire bunch of parsley and tossed it in. And here we go again, not following the recipe! (although this was more out of adaptation to our available materials than disobedience to the instructions).

Once the last items were incorporated and warm, we ladled the soup into a bowl and added some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and sprinkled with some flaky sea salt. Yum! Perfect for a cold, winter’s night and a great one pot dish. There are plenty of veggies in it so a side salad wasn’t necessary.

Rei and I both enjoyed the leftovers for lunch yesterday and we will most likely be having it for dinner tonight. Either that or the leftover Mulligatawny stew from Monday night which wasn’t nearly as tasty.

We will definitely be making this again.

Rei, it’s Friday. You have a three day weekend. You’ve been up since 5 AM doing homework. We have a YouTube video to record. Any chance you have some creative juices left in your brain to add some much needed spice to this post?

Absolutely not, are you kidding me? I’m doing this on Saturday. I napped for a solid two hours yesterday afternoon and then was in bed by 9:30. It was nice to catch up on some sleep, though.

But here I am now, and I have come to say:

This stew was pretty good. The flavor was great and I liked the texture for the most part, but the bread was really soggy. I would have preferred just eating slices that we could dip in the stew rather than having it presoaked in the stuff for like an hour beforehand. Personal preference, I guess. Still tasty, still really nice to have a hot stew on a cold night.

And now I’m heading off to put tonight’s dinner into the oven to slow cook for a few hours! That’s gonna be tasty :P

Until next time, ciao, and have a yerdulnocktrun day!

Rei and Terri :D