Ribollita: Tuscan bread soup

As cooler days approach, Thyme has released this hearty recipe for ribollita, a Tuscan bread soup. At this time of year, we can find ourselves with a surplus of garden or allotment produce. This dish is perfect for making use of seasonal leftovers and getting the most out of your vegetables.

Charlie Hibbert is Head Chef at Ox Barn, Thyme's restaurant. Charlie says: 'Ribollita is a famous Tuscan bread soup. You can use a variety of different vegetables that you have on hand, with the core ingredients being the beans, kale, and of course the bread. The fennel and celery give this soup its distinct depth.'

Recipe for ribollita

Serves 2 - with plenty left over for the rest of the week.

Prep and cooking time: 45 minutes.

Difficulty: easy.

Ingredients

4 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for serving

1 onion, peeled & diced

1 head of fennel, diced

4 sticks of celery, chopped

1 carrot, scrubbed & chopped

½ tsp ground fennel seed (if you don’t have ground fennel, just use a pestle and mortar with the seeds)

6 thyme sprigs, leaves picked and chopped finely

1 bunch of cavolo nero, leaves stripped

4 cloves of garlic, peeled & grated

Zest of 1 lemon

1 tin of whole tomatoes, best you can find

1 tin of cannellini beans

Pinch of chilli flakes

½ loaf of stale bread, torn into chunks

Sea salt flakes & freshly cracked black pepper

Parmesan for finishing

Method

Heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to fit everything in comfortably. Sweat the onion, celery, carrot and garlic on medium heat for 2 minutes. Next, add in the ground fennel and chopped thyme and cook until the vegetables have begun to soften (around another 10 minutes). Add in the lemon zest and stir through before adding in the tomato. Allow the tomatoes to cook and thicken for 5 minutes before adding in the cannellini beans, chilli and just enough extra water to cover. This is a thick soup so don’t drown it.

Allow everything to simmer together and get to know each other for a further 10 minutes. Finish by adding in the cavolo nero and torn bread chunks. Allow the bread to soak up moisture and the cabbage to braise for 10 more minutes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper, ladle into a bowl and grate Parmesan on top along with plenty of olive oil. This soup will keep well in the fridge for several days and improve with time, so enjoy.

Wine Pairing

Andrea, who owns and leads Last Drop Wines on the King's Road in Chelsea, recommends a wine as sustainable as it is delicious to accompany this dish. Read her advice here.

About Thyme

Thyme includes 32 bedrooms situated throughout the Georgian rectory, The Lodge, The Tallet and the buildings around the courtyard and gardens. Ox Barn (seats 62) offers a wonderful dining experience, with its own twist on seasonal British food.

Thyme also offers the Baa bar, meadow spa, pool, orchid house and botanical bothy. The piggery and balcony room boutiques stock Bertioli by Thyme's range of silkwear, tableware and bespoke homeware.

If that's not enough, their 'village within a village' also contains a cookery school, floristry and drawing classes, farm, kitchen gardens, orchards and water meadows. Cottages are available for private hire and you can also book the Tithe Barn for private events.

You can view our collection of Thyme recipes and our interview with Charlie Hibbert on L-Shaped.

Thyme’s room rates currently start at £335 (midweek) / £395 (Fri, Sat) per night. These are room rates include breakfast.

Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Southrop, Gloucestershire, GL7 3PW