Ribollita is a Tuscan soup, made with beans and vegetables, and thickened with bread. I remember eating it in Florence and thinking it how tasty, healthy, hearty and comforting it was.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a bit more
1 medium onion, diced
1 rib celery, sliced
1 medium zucchini, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 bundles of kale (7 1/2 cups)
1  (15-oz) can diced tomatoes, in juice
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans
10 cups vegetable broth (about 2 quarts)*
4 cups cubed sourdough bread (about 1/2 loaf)
3 cups baby spinach leaves

*Use the best stock you can find…why wouldn’t you?
I use Emeril’s Organic Vegetable Stock in all my recipes.

Directions
Place salt into a large pot (6 quart-ish). Set on a medium heat for 2 minutes.
Once the pan is nice and hot, add olive oil.
Add the onions, celery, zucchini, carrots, garlic, and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are soft and juicy, about 10 minutes.
Add the kale, can of tomatoes, basil, and marjoram and season again with salt and pepper. It will seem like a lot of kale, but never fear-it will wilt down a lot. Cook for about 10 minutes.
Stir in the beans and vegetable broth. Adjust the heat to simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Fish out the rosemary sprig. Stir in the spinach and bread*
Increase the heat to medium and cook until the soup thickens, about 10 minutes more. Season with a little more salt and pepper. Ladle soup into warm bowls.
Drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil on top.

*The bread is used to thicken the soup  – it will get gloopy. This is how they serve it in Florence and it is delicious! But if you would rather not have gloopy bread, wait to add the bread until right before you are about to serve.  You can also drizzle your bread cubes in oil and toast in the oven before you add them, so they retain some of their crispness.

Recipe adapted from this one. Thank you Food Network!