The Lazy Mom's BEST Ribollita (Bean) Soup EVER!

If you've been reading this blog, you KNOW that I cannot cook. I burn, I nuke (microwave), and make salads quite well, but cooking is not one of my talents. 

Still, many years ago before kids (BK), I traveled to Tuscany and experienced tried a food that changed my life.  It's called ribollita. 

For those who don't know, ribollita is a Tuscan bean soup. According to Wikipedia, the soup has peasant roots when it was originally made by reheating (or reboiling) leftover minestrone soup from the previous day. Some say the soup dates back to the Middle Ages when servants gathered up the bread from their lords' banquets and used it in their own dinners. Ribollita is made from leftover vegetables you have in your kitchen, beans, stock, perhaps some cheese, and old, crusty bread. It's one of those “throw together” suppers. The ribollita we had at a restaurant was so thick and hearty, you could eat it with a fork. 

Ribollita is a hearty, healthy soup!

Ever since then, I've been trying to re-create that original dish, but to no avail. Either my stock is off or the mix of vegetables isn't right. Until now. On the website Chewnibblenosh.com, they had a recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentis (find her original here). 

Yesterday, I modified the recipe even further to come up with THE BEST version of ribollita I've had since that original experience in Italy years ago!

Before I even list the ingredients, let me preface this by saying that MOST Italian food tastes better when it's had time to gel. By that I mean, make this either in the morning of the evening you're going to serve it, as I did, or the day before. In time, the flavors will coalesce, making it more flavorful the longer you leave it. This recipe supposedly serves 4 to 6 people, but my family had at least 6 servings of it yesterday, and we can easily get three more out of it. 

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

½ c extra-virgin olive oil

2 chopped onions (I used frozen chopped onions since I hate chopping them)

4 small carrots, chopped

4 to 6 ounces of chopped pancetta (I bought this in a package at the grocery store)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

½ teaspoon of salt & pepper (to taste)

1 6 oz. can of tomato paste

1 (14.5 oz.) can of diced tomatos, with the juice

1 (10 oz.) box of frozen, chopped spinach

2 cans of Cannelini beans

1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and rosemary

6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf

3 inch piece of Parmesan rind – save the rest of the cheese for grating on top

Any other veggies you might have lying around

1 cup of mozzarella cheese

½ loaf of leftover Italian or French bread (you can also use leftover bagels, matzoh, etc.)

Instructions:

1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, pancetta, garlic, salt & pepper. Cook about 10 minutes until the onion browns and the pancetta begins to crisp. Add the tomato paste and stir into the mixture. Then add the tomatos with the juice and the broth, stirring constantly.
2. Add the beans, spinach, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, broth, leftover veggies, mozzarella, and the Parmesan rind. Break the bread into pieces and put it on top of the soup. Bring the soup to a low boil and keep it going for at least 25 minutes. I had it going until it boiled over, then just left it on the stove (sans heat) for a few hours.
3. Discard the bay leaf, stir the bread (which has absorbed the soup) into the ribollita, and spoon the soup into bowls. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
   
   
   
   

   

   I had three bowls of this ribollita and could EASILY have had more!

   
   

Ribollita  is a great dish during cold season and can easily be adapted depending on what vegetables the family likes.

It's nutritious and makes the house smell wonderful!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to grab another bowl before the family gets to it.  I LOVE this soup!  

Thanks for reading!!!

EASIEST Fish Tacos EVER!

My son is in love - with fish tacos!  He was in heaven with his first bite into the crispy, spicy dish and has savored them each time we've been in Southern California.  So, after playing with several recipes which proved to be too time-consuming and dissecting what, exactly, he loved about them (I'm not a fan), I came up with the winner below.  He ate 6 (yes, six) of them last night for dinner and just begged me for more when we walked through the door after school.

EASIEST FISH TACOS

You could use this seasoning mix for the fish tacos, but any taco seasoning mix works well.

Ingredients:  10 ounces of breaded frozen fish fillets (Mrs. Pauls, VanDeKamps, etc.), 1/4 teaspoon of chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon of taco seasoning, 1 - 4.6 ounce package of taco shells and/or low-carb tortillas (my husband is on a low-carb diet), 2 cups of coleslaw from your deli, 1/2 cup of salsa

My family's FAVORITE salsa

Directions:  

1.  Sprinkle the fish with the chili powder and taco seasoning.  Bake as directed on the package.

2.  Take the fish out of the oven and cut it into bite-size pieces or strips.

3.  Spoon a teaspoon of coleslaw into each shell (if you're using a tortilla, halve the tortilla first and use each half), top with some fish, and a tablespoon or so of salsa. 

ENJOY! 

Variations:  You can add avocado, sour cream, cheese, sauteed red pepper strips, etc.  Make it your own. 

 

My son is getting all the benefits of fish with the cabbage from the slaw and tomatoes (which he won't touch otherwise) from the salsa.  This also makes a great "make it yourself" leftovers dish since once the fish is cooked, all he has to do is heat it up for about a minute before assembling the taco. 



Try it and tell me what you think of it!  And, as always, thanks for reading!  

How To Make & Eat A Dutch Baby

As the Summer gradually winds down, I'm still crossing off items from my “Must Do This Summer” list. One of those is to take the kids for a Dutch Baby; they love the look of horror on their friends' faces when they brag that they ate a baby!  Now, for those of you who are cringing, a Dutch Baby is a delicious, pancake-crepe hybrid that is roughly the size of a football; it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to bake. The waitress at our local pancake house explained the process (and it is a process) of how to eat one:

1. Gasp at the sheer size of the dish.
2. Spread butter over the surface of the baby.
3. Squeeze a little lemon on it.
4. Sprinkle with some powdered sugar.
5. Dig in!

My kids, of course, forget the lemon, preferring to spread a lot of butter on the pancake and then dousing it with sugar. Because it's taken so long to make, they tend to savor the dish and, yes, my 8-year old daughter, has eaten an entire Dutch Baby.

 

While the kids prefer to go to our Original Pancake House for their babies, I have made them at home. Here's how to make two small Dutch Babies:

Ingredients:

• Two small oven-safe pans
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup of flour
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 2/3 cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons of butter for the pans or non-stick cooking spray
• lemon wedges, more butter, and powdered sugar to put on the finished product

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place about a tablespoon of butter into each pan and put them in the oven to melt the butter. The alternative is to spray non-stick spray all over the inside of the pans; you don't need to put the pans in the oven, but you still need to preheat it.

Step 2: In a large bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, and milk and use a whisk to combine them.

Step 3: Gradually add in the flour, salt, and sugar until there are no lumps in the batter.

Step 4: If you've put pans in the oven to preheat them, take them out now. Divide the batter in half and pour it into each pan.

Step 5: Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges are puffy and brown.

Step 6: Serve with butter, lemon, and powdered sugar.

This is one of those dishes you can make for special occasions and if you wanted to make it as a after-dinner dessert, add some ice cream. 

 

While I don't like to gush about food, it's really the 20 minutes waiting for the Dutch Baby in the restaurant that's special. I love taking my kids out for breakfast...and away from their video screens. My daughter giggles in anticipation of her baby as my son, who can easily eat two, challenges her to get through one. It's a great way to start the day and bond with my children.

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