Soup's on!

The best thing about winter, is the makings of a great pot soup.

I found this Ribollita in a cookbook last year, and now, everyone asks me to make it....

man, this is delish ( Rachel Ray would agree!- she'd better, it is her recipe). I switched out some of the canned things with homemade, and added a few items....

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 thinly sliced panchetta

4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 dried bay leaf

2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cans small white beans ( OR SOAKED WHITE BEANS OVERNIGHT, and slowly COOKED)
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups TOMATO SAUCE ( I have a homemade sauce that I use but you can go jar'd if need be)
3 cups stale bread, torn into pieces, about 1/2 a loaf

a bunch of Kale
1 small white onion, thinly sliced or finely chopped, for garnish
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for garnish

Directions
Heat a deep, heavy bottomed pot over moderate heat. Add oil, panchetta, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, rosemary and bay to the pot. Season vegetables with salt and pepper and saute until they begin to soften 5 to 7 minutes. Add beans, stock and tomato sauce. Bring soup to a boil over medium high heat. Remove lid and stir in torn stale bread. Stir soup and incorporate bread as it breaks down. Place torn kale on top and place lid over- steaming the kale into the pot. When soup is thick and bread is distributed evenly, adjust seasoning and serve the soup in shallow bowls.
Top shallow bowlfuls of soup with thinly sliced or finely chopped raw onion, a drizzle of extra- virgin olive oil and a generous sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Enjoy and have a Merry Christmas!