Nona Sophia's Ribollita

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Tonight we ate ribollita, an ancient Italian soup full of veggies and beans. The story goes that back in the Middle Ages the nobility would eat their meals off plates made from large slices of dried bread, called trenchers. After the meal, the peasants would gather the trenchers, full of the meal’s juices and leftover tidbits that the wealthy didn’t consume, and took them home to boil them for their own dinners. That was the origins of ribollita. Sounds gross. This ribollita was pretty good, though. It didn’t taste at all like boiled leftover trenchers." Lexi Sobado, CHAIN LYNX 

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Remember - Ribolitta is a peasant dish. If you think it would taste good, throw it in. If you don't have an ingredient on hand, make do.
Experiment - and have fun!

1/4 C extra virgin olive oil
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
6 oz. pancetta chopped
3 cloves of garlic (leave one whole and crush the other two)
2T tomato paste
1 T herbs de Province
1tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
15 oz can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 box of frozen spinach wrung dry
1 can of white beans
4 cups of vegetable stock (I use Trader Joe's)
1 bay leaf
Parmesan 
a baguette sliced
Parmesan for the table

And to put it all together ~
1. Start by heating the oil in a soup pot.
2. With the heat on medium add in the onion, carrot, pancetta , minced garlic, salt and pepper
3. When the onion is yellow and the pancetta is crispy add in the tomato paste, and tomatoes.
4. Using a wooden spoon - scrape the bottom as if you were de-glazing to get up all of those delicious crispy
     bits.
5. Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Preheat your oven to 350F
6. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Brush your bread slices with olive oil. Toast until golden - keep a close eye on these so they don't 
    blacken!
8. As soon as you remove them from the oven rub them with your whole clove of garlic.
9. Divide the bread amongst your bowls then pour the soup over the top
10. If you like, decorate with a fresh sprig of parsley and Parmesan shavings