Ribollita with sausage – Tuscan bean stew

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 200 g beans, white, small, dried
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 garlic cloves
• Salt
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 25 g dried tomatoes
• 70 g bacon, streaky
• 3 onions
• 150 g carrot(s)
• 200 g potatoes
• 150 g celery
• 500 g savoy cabbage
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 6 stalks of thyme
• 1 ½ liters vegetable broth
• 100g ciabatta
• 40 g Parmesan
• 4 stalks of parsley, flat
• 1 ½ tbsp butter
• 300 g sausage
• pepper
• Sugar
• 1 dashes lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes; Total time approx. 14 hours 45 minutes

Anne’s Cooking School

1. Soak the beans in cold water the day before. The next day, pour the beans into a sieve and drain. 2. Cook the beans uncovered in plenty of boiling water with 1 bay leaf and 1 clove of garlic over low heat for 40-45 minutes until soft. Only season with salt at the end of the cooking time. Drain the beans and refresh. 3. Roughly crush the fennel in a mortar. Finely dice the tomatoes, bacon, onions, and 2 cloves of garlic. 4. Peel the carrots and potatoes. Remove the strings from the celery. Cut everything into ½ cm cubes. 5. Trim the savoy cabbage and cut into 1 cm wide strips. 6. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Fry the bacon for 3 minutes until crispy. Add the tomatoes, onions, and garlic. Sauté for 2 minutes over medium heat. 7. Add the carrots, potatoes, celery, 3 sprigs of thyme, and bay leaf, and sauté for 4 minutes. 8. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. 9. Tear the bread into small pieces. Halve the remaining garlic clove. Tear off the remaining thyme leaves. Grate the Parmesan cheese. Chop the parsley. 10. Melt the butter in a pan. Fry the bread, garlic, and thyme over medium heat until golden brown, then season with salt. 11. Add the savoy cabbage to the stew and cook for 5 minutes. 12. Mix in the beans and cook for 3 minutes. 13. Squeeze the sausage out of the casing and roughly tear it apart. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan. Fry the dumplings until browned all over. 14. Remove the dumplings from the pan and let them simmer in the stew for 3 minutes. Season the stew with salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice, if desired. 15. Serve the Ribolitta sprinkled with croutons, Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Drizzle with a little extra olive oil, if desired. Tip: This stew is also delicious vegetarian. Simply omit the bacon and sausage. Instead of the dried beans, you can also use two cans of small white beans (250 g drained weight each).