Extra Virgin (18 page)

½ pound stale
Pane Toscano
, or store-bought country bread, cut into ½-inch slices

Rinse and drain the soaked beans. Bring a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed pot full of water to a boil. Add the beans, making sure they’re covered by a few inches of water, and reduce the heat to medium-high. Cook for at least 1 hour, salting the water after 40 minutes, until tender. Drain the beans and set aside.

In an 8-quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the carrot, onion, and celery and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until soft and translucent but not golden. Add the potatoes, kale, and cabbage and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the cabbage is wilted.

Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon. Add enough water to cover the ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, until it thickens considerably.

Add the bread and continue cooking for another 30 minutes, until the crust of the bread begins falling apart.

Serve in bowls with an extra drizzle of olive oil.

IMPORTANTE!  
If you’re short on time, or don’t feel like soaking dried beans overnight, use 1 (15-ounce) can of cannellini beans. Rinse them, and add them to the pot later in the cooking process when the soup is thickening. Canned beans are already pretty buttery, so they don’t need to be cooked an extra hour or they’ll turn into paste. Also, I suggest you don’t serve this soup with grated cheese. It takes away from the flavor of the fresh vegetables. To reheat ribollita, keep the heat low and reheat slowly so as not to scorch the bottom of the pot and disrupt the flavors. Add water if needed, because the
bread will have absorbed the juices overnight and the soup will thicken.

Tuscan Bread and Tomato Soup

TUSCAN BREAD AND TOMATO SOUP

PAPPA AL POMODORO

SERVES 4

D:
Much like the
Ribollita
was for our youngest daughter, this richly textured tomato-bread bowl of goodness was an early solid food hit with our first child, Evelina, after Gabriele’s mother made it for us on a visit to Tuscany. As soon as we got back to the States, we started hoarding stale bread as if we were farmers! You could have knocked someone out with the bag of crusty pieces that kept growing in the corner of our kitchen. But that’s how Tuscans like their thick rustic soups, with plenty of hearty, tomato-soaked chunks.

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

3 garlic cloves, halved

1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (pelati), broken up

4 handfuls fresh whole basil leaves, plus more for garnish

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cups
vegetable stock, homemade

12 ounces stale
Pane Toscano
, or store-bought country bread, cut into ½-inch slices

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic and sauté 1 to 2 minutes, until fragrant but not browned. Add the tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper to taste, reduce the heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Add the stock, stir well, and bring to a soft boil.

Add the bread and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove the pot from the heat and let sit for 1 hour, until the bread has absorbed as much of the sauce as possible.

Stir with a wooden spoon, making sure to break down the biggest chunks of bread into smaller pieces. Return the pot to a low heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until warm, but not hot. Serve garnished with basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

MINESTRONE

SERVES 6–8

G:
This Italian vegetable-soup classic is really just an excuse to go to your farmers’ market and use what’s in season—the time of year typically dictates what goes in the minestrone. This can be an opportunity to try vegetables you may not be accustomed to cooking. It’s also great for vegetables that have begun wilting—it gives them an extra week of life in your fridge. And if you have kids who might balk at so obviously a nutrition-heavy soup, you can always throw in some cheese-filled tortellini or chunks of bread as a distraction!

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

½ red onion, roughly chopped

2 carrots, roughly chopped

3 celery stalks, roughly chopped

½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh Italian parsley

2 Roma or plum tomatoes, quartered

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 (1½-ounce) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese rind

Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, for serving

½ pound broccoli florets

¹⁄³ cup halved green beans, ends trimmed

2 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 bunch Swiss chard, ripped by hand into 2-inch pieces

1 bunch whole Tuscan kale (aka lacinato, black kale, cavolo nero) leaves, stems removed

1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for 10 minutes, until soft but not browned. Add the red pepper flakes, parsley, and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, to blend the flavors and break down the tomatoes. (You can discard the tomato peels if you’d like.)

Add 6 cups water, season with salt and pepper to taste, then add the cheese rind, broccoli, green beans, zucchini, potatoes, chard, kale, and cannellini beans. Stir well. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 50 minutes, until the vegetables have softened and the broth has thickened, or until the potatoes can be broken apart easily with a wooden spoon. Stir occasionally to make sure the vegetables break down and stay submerged in the broth. Add ½ cup water if needed to help the cooking process.

Season with salt and pepper and serve in bowls with a sprinkle of Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

TUNA AND SWORDFISH SOUP

ZUPPA DI TONNO E PESCE SPADA

SERVES 8

G:
When I had the good fortune to trail the masterful Gino Angelini around his Angelini Osteria kitchen in Los Angeles, I quickly focused on this delicious amuse bouche served there. The first time I tried it, I got goose bumps—I instantly felt like a kid again, vacationing with my parents in Sardinia or Sicily. So my goal became to turn it into a full-on soup entree. The fish pieces really add to the roundness and help make it a meal.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

5 ounces cherry tomatoes or 1 tablespoon tomato paste

6 cups
vegetable stock, homemade

½ pound tuna steak, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ pound swordfish steak, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ pound cod fillet, cut into ½-inch cubes

Finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish

Toasted bread, for serving

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes, until they’re soft and translucent, but not golden.

Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are dissolved. (If using tomato paste, stir it in just to make sure it’s evenly mixed.)

Add the stock, bring the soup to a soft boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add the tuna, swordfish, and cod and cook for 10 minutes until just cooked through.

Serve with a sprinkle of parsley, a touch of olive oil, and with toasted bread.

COLD VEGETABLE SOUP
with mint

ZUPPA FREDDA DI VERDURA E ODORE MENTA

SERVES 4–6

D:
This is a vegetable-stock-and-dairy-based version of a chilled greens soup, which takes advantage of mint for a unique herb-y freshness to go with the butter lettuce and arugula. Gabriele developed this as a lunch soup that would be satisfyingly smooth but not warm. On a summer day when you want something cooling, it’s a deliciously light, flavorful treat.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 shallot, chopped

1 head butter lettuce, separated into leaves

3 handfuls baby arugula

4 cups
vegetable stock, homemade

Leaves from 3 sprigs fresh mint

¼ cup heavy cream

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Juice of ½ lemon (optional)

Toasted bread rubbed with garlic, for serving

In a large saucepan, heat the butter and olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the shallot and cook for 4 minutes, until soft. Add the butter lettuce and arugula and stir until just soft. Add the stock and reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes to blend the flavors, then remove from the heat and let cool.

Transfer the cooled soup to a blender. Add the mint leaves and blend until smooth. Add the cream and blend further to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Refrigerate for 2 hours to chill. Serve chilled with a splash of lemon juice, if desired, and with garlic toasts.

LOBSTER AND CANNELLINI BEAN SOUP

ZUPPA DI CANNELLINI E ARAGOSTA

SERVES 6

G:
This super-Tuscan take on the American mainstay lobster was about simplifying the richness of this ordinarily butter-drenched shellfish and marrying it with the humble creaminess of my people’s beloved cannellini beans. When I created this as an appetizer during my stint at the Montauk Yacht Club, diners who tasted it wanted more!