Ribollita

This time of year there is nothing I enjoy more than a hot bowl of soup. "Ribollita" (page 153), which literally means "re-boiled", is a Tuscan soup very similar to minestrone.  Chock full of veggies - onion, carrot, cabbage, kale, and potato - simmered in a tomato based broth, made hearty by the addition of white beans, and finally, ladled over pieces of toasted Italian bread. For the sake of the photograph, and to appease my husband, I floated the pieces of bread on top of the soup, rather than covering them, as you can see in the picture. The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of oil, 2 for sautéing the veggies, and 1 to drizzle over the individual servings.  I omitted the oil in both instances, and still had fabulous results.