Cellar Tastings

Ribollita is rather like minestrone, but includes beans instead of pasta. In Italy it is traditionally served ladled over bread and a rich green vegetable, although you could omit this for a lighter version/ summery version.

Ingredients

• 45ml/3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 2 carrots grated
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
• 2 large courgettes, thinly sliced
• 400g/14oz canned chopped tomatoes
• 30ml/2 tbsp pesto
• 900ml/1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock
• 400g/14oz can haricot or borlotti beans, drained
• salt and ground pepper
• 450g/1lb young spinach
• 15ml/l tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 6-8 slices white bread
• parmesan cheese shavings

Preparation

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions, carrots, garlic,celery and fennel and fry gently for 10 minutes. Add the courgettes and fry for a further 2 minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes, pesto, stock and beans and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for 25-30 minutes, until the vegetables are completely tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, fry the spinach in the oil for 2 minutes or until wilted. Spoon over the bread in the soup bowls, then ladle the soup over the spinach. Serve with extra olive oil for drizzling on to the soup and parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.