Ribollita (Bean soup with vegetables and bread)

Start by cutting the vegetables into medium-sized pieces.

Boil the cannellini beans and pass them through a sieve with their cooking water, but leave some of the beans whole.

Next fry one onion with the oil in a pan over a low heat.

Once you have browned the onion, add the red tomatoes and the tablespoon of tomato purée.

After cooking over a medium heat for several minutes add the bean purée and the whole beans, mix together and then add all the other chopped vegetables.

Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then add the thyme.

Add six ladlefuls of water and leave to cook for at least two hours.

To serve, the soup should be poured over at least two slices of bread, which have first been toasted and rubbed with garlic.

Once you have prepared the soup with the slices of bread, as explained above, it needs to be cooked again to become a “real ribollita”.

Cover the soup with a layer of quite finely sliced onions and heat in the oven; traditionally this is done in an earthenware pot.

Once the onions on the top of the soup have browned, drizzle over some olive oil and serve.

Wine Pairing: Oltrepo’ Pavese Pinot Nero