Ribollita with beans, salted lemon and pig cheeks

The traditional ingredients are beans and cheap vegetables such as kale, carrots, celery, potatoes and onions.

By Mikkel Karstad

Preparation time

approx. 1 hour and 10 minutes

Ingredients

For 4

Ribollita
200 g cannellini beans or other white beans
4 pig cheeks
2 onions, 220 g
4 carrots, 300 g
2 sticks of celery, 60g
2 large potatoes, 270 g
2 cloves garlic
10 sprigs thyme
1 dl neutral oil
2 tbsp tomato purée, concentrate
½ savoy cabbage, 350 g
2 handfuls of palm cabbage, 50 g
1 salted lemon (can be bought at a delicatessen or made according to the recipe below)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Accompaniments

• 4 slices (day-old) sourdough bread
• 1 dl olive oil
• 50 g grated parmesan

Method

Ribollita

Previous day: Soak the beans in cold water overnight. If you use canned beans, you will need 400g and no soaking is required.

1. Rinse the beans and put them in a pan with fresh water to cover.
2. Boil them for 45-60 mins until soft but still firm. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the beans to 'draw' in the boiling water.
3. Cut the cheeks into chunks, approx. 2×2 cm.
4. Put the cheeks in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and dry marinate for 15-20 minutes.
5. Prepare the onions, carrots, celery and potatoes and cut into mouth-sized pieces.
6. Peel the garlic, remove the thyme leaves from the sprigs and chop both finely.
7. Put the oil in a frying pan, heat to a high temperature, add the chunks of pig cheeks and fry for a couple of minutes until they turn a good colour.
8. Add the thyme and garlic and fry for a further 1 minute. Add the onions, carrots, celery and potatoes and fry for 4-5 minutes until well mixed. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
9. Add the tomato purée and water to the pan - approx. 2 cm above the level of the vegetables.
10. Bring to the boil and allow the soup to simmer under a lid for 30 minutes.
11. Cut the cabbage into strips and add to the soup. Cover and allow the soup to simmer for another 15 minutes.
12. Add the beans and allow the soup to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper and finely chopped, salted lemon.
13. Add the olive oil and a little salt to the slices of bread and toast under a grill pan or in the oven until golden and crisp.
14. Serve the hot soup with grated parmesan on top and the toasted bread.

Salted Lemons

1. Wash the unwaxed lemons and slit 8-10 times with a knife to allow the salt to penetrate through the lemon rind.
2. Put the lemons in a large jar and squeeze them well. Add coarse salt to cover and close the lid.
3. Leave the lemons in the jar for 3-4 weeks prior to use.

Energy distribution

Energy distribution and content per person
Protein 14%
Carbohydrate 34%
Fat 52%
3921 kJ - 937 kcal