#tuscan

I buy a lot of roast beef and provolone slices with the expectation of making sandwiches for lunch. The problem is, I just end up taking some roast beef, rolling it in a slice of provolone, and snackin’. The bread is just sadly sitting in our kitchen going stale, because no one else in my house loves deli meat as much as I do. 

Ribolita, a hearty Tuscan vegetable soup, is usually made from nice [stale, old] bread that’s not sliced for sandwiches. But you know what? If you buy whole grain or seeded bread, they’re just as good when it gets too dry or stale. Waste not! Make soup!

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
  
• Two 15-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 28-ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes
• 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 Parmesan cheese rind
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
• ½ teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
  
• 6 cups chopped kale
• 4 cups cubed sourdough bread
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Once garlic is fragrant, season with salt and pepper. Cook until onions are softened.

Transfer contents to a slow cooker on high. Add remaining ingredients from the recipe list above EXCEPT for the kale, sourdough bread cubes and grated Parmesan. Cook for 1 hour. Add kale and bread. Remove Parmesan cheese rind. Cook for an additional 20 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed.

Serve and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Today, I’ll be making a simple bread-based soup - referred to as juscellum by Apicius! It’s a lot like Tuscan “aquacotta” soup, which is prepared in a similar way - though today it often includes tomatoes, which would not have been available in antiquity.

And now let’s take a look at The World That Was! Follow along with my YouTube video above!

Ingredients

1 onion
1 carrot
1 stick celery
3 cloves garlic
thyme
2 slices bread (torn or grated)
2 eggs
750ml chicken stock
olive oil
salt
pepper

Method

1 - Chop Ingredients
To begin with, we need to chop and dice an onion. You don’t need to worry about being too careful here, as they’ll soften up considerably while its cooking. Peel and dice a carrot or two - carrots and parsnips were considered to be the same vegetable to the Greeks and Romans, so either one works well here! Finally, deal with some celery by slicing it thinly.

2 - Sautee and Cook
Toss a bit of olive oil into a pot, and place this over a medium heat. When it’s shimmering, toss in your onions, carrots, and crush a few crushed cloves of garlic. Let this sauté away for about 10 minutes.

When it’s finished sautéing, pour in 500ml worth of water or chicken stock. On top of this, toss some chopped thyme Place your soup over a high heat, and bring it to a rolling boil. When it hits a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer away for 30 minutes.

3 - Prepare Soup and Eggs
While your soup is cooking, go rip up some slices into large chunks. Alternatively, you could grate up dried bread into a powder. Toss your bread into the soup about 10 minutes before you’re serving it, along with your parsley.

About 5 minutes before you serve up your soup, place some eggs into the pot and let them hard-boil.

4 - Assemble Soup
In a serving bowl, ladle in some of your soup, and place your poached egg on top of this. Garnish with a little fresh herb. And serve up warm!

The finished soup is very filling and flavourful - along with looking very colourful when finished! It’s quick and simple to make, which would have made it popular with the lower, poorer classes in ancient Roman and Etruscan societies - as this dish can be made using ingredients that are going off (such as stale or mouldy bread). It can be adjusted using seasonal vegetables and herbs, along with different kinds of eggs that would provided different taste profiles.

Tuscany Vineyard

Tuscany villa with a vineyard, winery, bar and a restaurant.

I’ve checked many Tuscany villas images to be inspired and try to build a real winery and I did what I could so sorry if it’s not 100% accurated.

I’m feeling a bit sick right now but I wanted to upload this build before the weekend starts cause I’m gonna have some very busy and stressful days from now on. I’ll try to tag some of the cc creators when I have more free time.