Out & About September 2017

OA food & drink

This is my version of ribollita, a classic Tuscan soup. Italian Country Soup

If you use dried cannellini beans you’ll get a perfect result, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll forget to soak them the night before and have to use canned beans. This is no great tragedy and should certainly not put you off making this soup.

SERVES 6 3tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 400g dried cannellini beans, soaked overnight and boiled until tender or 1 x 400g can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed 100g green beans, topped, tailed and cut into 2cm pieces

200g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks 300g swiss chard leaves roughly chopped 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes 200g courgettes, cut into 2cm chunks 8 sage leaves 1.5 litres chicken stock 300g stale white country-style bread sea salt freshly ground black pepper

n Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally. n Add the cooked or canned cannellini beans and cook for three minutes, mashing them slightly as you stir them. n Add the green beans, potatoes, chard, tomatoes, courgettes and sage leaves and stir. n Pour on the stock and simmer for 40 minutes, covered.You want all the vegetables to cook until they are breaking down as this adds to the velvety thickness of the soup. n Add the bread in torn pieces and simmer soup for another 10 minutes until the bread has softened and thickens the soup. n Check the seasoning before serving.

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What’s for Dinner? Second helpings by Romilla Arber, £20, directly from the group, or plus p+p www.honestygroup.co.uk

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