The weather really chilled down again this week and it made me crave cosy food. I've been meaning to try making ribollita for a while having seen it in a few magazines. As is my habit I mashed together a few recipes and ended up with a warm bowl of loveliness that lasted me a few days. Ribollita means reboiled and this really does taste better and better the more you simmer and reheat it.

Ingredients (serves 3 - 4)
1 white onion
2 large cloves of garlic
1 leek (many recipes suggest using celery but I prefer leek)
2 carrots, chopped into small pieces
2 small potatoes, chopped into small cubes
1 tin of butter beans (many recipes suggest using cannellini beans, use whatever you have)
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
2 large handfuls of chopped spring greens (you can use kale but I prefer spring greens)
a generous pinch or two of dried thyme
crusty italian bread to serve

Method
Sauté the onion and leek in a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for a minute or two. Add the remaining ingredients except for the spring greens, stir and leave the ribollita to simmer for about 40 minutes. Add the spring greens and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes. Cut the bread into large cubes. You can add this to the pan and stir it in if you are serving all the soup at once. I like to add it to each individual bowl so that when I reheat the remaining soup the next day I can add fresh bread rather than let it completely breakdown.

Serve and enjoy slowly while reading your favourite magazine or book.