Ribollita con Ceci

Ribollita with Chickpeas – variation on a Tuscan soup.

I made this soup from memory last night and will try to share it as well as I can. We ate it in Italy three weeks ago and the lady cook wrote out the recipe for me when I praised her about it. The only problem is that I could not find it in my handbag so I had to rely on my memory.

The recipe is for two big appetites if you serve this thick soup as a main course.

In a large pot, sauté a sweet (red) onion in olive oil and add two cloves of garlic. Add 2 cups of cooked canned chickpeas, cover with the same amount of water and simmer for at least ten minutes.

Remove half of the chickpeas and purée what is left in the pot. Once this is done, put back the chickpeas and add two cubed middle-sized tomatoes and two handfuls of frozen or fresh spinach, cover the pot and simmer until the tomatoes seem cooked. I’d say at least 15 to 20 minutes. Season to taste.

Add two cups of stale bread and simmer again until the bread has almost “melted” into the soup.

Add some oregano, red pepper flakes and drizzle with olive oil.