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It’s finally soup season! My hubs and I recently went out to dinner in Pebble beach at The Bench with a gift certificate we had and I COULD. NOT. STOP. raving about the soup. I had never heard of it before (Ribollita), but it was SO GOOD!!! I called and e-mailed the chef and the manager of The Bench was kind enough to send me the secret recipe. Because they make theirs in bulk I blended theirs with a recipe from the NY Times that has 5 stars on OVER 2K reviews!!!

Without Further ado… I give you, RIBOLLITA:

• 1 small onion, chopped

• 5 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 carrot, chopped

• 1 celery stalk, chopped

• 16 oz. of parmesan rinds

• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

• Salt and ground black pepper

• 2 cups cooked or canned cannellini beans

• 1 15-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (pulse in blender or chop by hand)

• 4 cups vegetable stock or water

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 fresh thyme sprig

• 1 pound chopped kale or escarole

• 4 large, thick slices whole-grain bread, toasted

• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

Step 1. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot over medium heat. When it’s hot, add onion, carrot, celery. After those and nice and soft (5-10 min.), and garlic; sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until all vegetables are soft.

Heat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain the beans; if they’re canned, rinse them as well. Add them to the pot along with tomatoes and their juices and water, bay leaf, thyme and parmesan rinds. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat so the soup bubbles steadily; cover and cook, stirring once or twice to break up the tomatoes, until the flavors meld, 15 to 20 minutes.

Fish out and discard bay leaf and thyme stems, if you like, and stir in kale. Taste and adjust seasoning. Lay bread slices on top of the stew so they cover the top and overlap as little as possible. Drizzle with the remaining 3 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Put the pot in the oven and bake until the bread, onions and cheese are browned and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes. (If your pot fits under the broiler, you can also brown the top there.) Divide the soup and bread among 4 bowls and serve.

This was how my version turned out! I didn’t bake the whole thing in the over (just the toasties) nor did I add kale this time but definitely will next time. Bring on the fall weather!

For the original NY Times Recipe, Click here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016052-ribollita