Favorite Winter Dishes

My favorite was a soup. Not sure of the spelling, Rubiltelle.

Mary

This might be the same one? If not, it was certainly delicious. I enjoyed every bite in Orvieto one cool, rainy day- Pasta e Fagioli?

For me it's Ribollita; it's probably the soup Mary likes too.

It was in Florence that I tasted my favorite version of it (each cook makes it slightly differently) - it's made with bread, cannellini beans, pancetta, black/Italian kale, cabbage, etc..
I even had one restaurant cook give me his recipe. :-)

Here is my translated version (of the handwritten Italian one):

Ribollita, or "Boiled again" soup (from Florence)

1/2 Savoy cabbage / cavolo verza
400g cannellini beans / cannellini
5 leaves of Italian 'black leaf' kale / cavolo nero
2 carrots / carote
1 celery branch / costa di sedano
1 onion / cipolla
2 zucchini / zucchine
2 ripe tomatoes / pomodori maturi o pelati
2 potatoes / patate
1 bunch of parsley / ciuffo di prezzemolo
5 leaves of Swiss chard / foglie di bietola
100g thick-sliced pancetta / rigatino pancetta tesa
Stale Tuscan bread / pane toscano raffermo
Extra-virgin olive oil / olio extravergine d'oliva
Salt and pepper / sal e pepe

Fate soffriggere in poco olio un trito finissimo di cipolla, prezzemolo, sedano, carote e rigatino. Aggiungete man mano, nell'ordine, le patate, le zucchine e i pomodori, a tocchetti il cavolo verza, le foglie di cavolo nero e infine la bietola.

Fry in a little oil the chopped onion, parsley, celery, carrots and the pancetta. Add gradually, in order, the potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes, the diced Savoy cabbage, the black leaf kale and finally the Swiss chard.

Coprite con circa un litro d'acqua e fate bollire per un ora. Aggiungete i fagioli cotti a parte e passati al passaverdura con il loro brodo. Fate bollire per circa 15 minuti girando spesso perché non attacchi.

Cover with about a liter of water and boil for an hour. Add the separately cooked beans, that have been pureed with their broth. Boil for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently so that it does not stick.

Tagliate intanto a fette molto sottili il pane e disponetelo a strati in una zuppiera irrorandolo con il brodo. Fate riposare 10 minuti.

Meanwhile cut the bread in very thin slices and arrange it in layers in a tureen, then cover it with the soup broth. Let sit 10 minutes.

A questo punto potete mangare quella che nel senese si chiama "la zuppa" per antonomasia, accompagnandola con uno spicchio di cipolla rossa cruda.

At this point, you can eat it in the style of Siena, simply called 'the soup', accompanying it with a piece of raw red onion.

'Ribollite' la sera quanto avanzate oppure passate subito tutto in un tegame (possibilmente di coccio) e fate ribollire per qualque minuto. Servite la ribollita calda, senza cipolla, con un giro d'olio crudo.

'Boil it again', either later in the evening or immediately, all together in a saucepan or, preferably, re-heat it in an earthenware dish for few minutes. Serve the ribollita hot, without onion, and with a dash of olive oil on top.

Viste le sue antiche origini, questa ricetta ha infinite varianti restando fermi il pane, I fagioli e il cavolo nero.

Given its ancient origins, this recipe has endless variations. However, it's base remains the stale or hard bread, cannellini beans and the Italian kale.

You have to try Osso Buco and Cinghiale ragu (wild boar).

Thanks for the great suggestions! Can't wait to try these.

Sharon

From Tuscany:

Ribollita
Trippa alla Fiorentina
Lampredotto
Fagioli all'uccelletto con salsicce
Peposo del Chianti
Cinghiale a' funghi porcini

and of course caldarroste (chestnuts) sold in the streets.

Cavolo Nero is sold here in California as "Tuscan Kale" or "Black Tuscan Kale".

Great list Roberto!
Personally, I have not yet met a 'fagioli' dish that I didn't like :-)

Two more bean-based dishes to try, if they are on a daily menu:
Farinata toscana
Pomodori, fagioli e cipolline
- check out the contorni, specifically