Classic Ribollita

Prep Time: 40 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes | Serves: 6

I’m sitting at my desk watching the lightning light up my room and listening to the heavy rain’s steady downpour. This is the perfect weather for a hearty soup like Ribollita. It’s brimming with vegetables in a yummy, brothy base with smoky bacon and cannellini beans. Even though it’s a soup, it still makes a filling meal. Perfect for winter nights, stormy nights, or even Sunday lunches with friends and family around the table.

Ribollita is a Tuscan soup that traditionally includes day-old bread added to the soup to thicken. I like to ladle the Ribollita over lightly toasted chunks of bread in the bottom of my bowl. You can leave the bread out completely if you’d like for dietary reasons, but a true Ribollita is thickened with almost-stale bread. If you read about Tuscan cuisine, you’ll see that it’s about being resourceful and using what is in season and on hand. It’s not the creamy, sun-dried tomato-filled dishes you see online everywhere.

Another great addition to ribollita is a Parmesan rind. It will impart some extra flavor that you really don’t want to miss. I keep Parmesan rinds in my freezer just for uses like this.

Canned cannellini beans are a convenience, but you could cook your beans from dried. I used drained and rinsed canned beans in this recipe.

You can change out the veggies if you’d like. Use more or less of what’s listed in the ingredient list, but don’t throw in something off-the-wall like beets. It’s easy to double the recipe to make sure you’ll have easy-to-reheat leftovers.

Be sure to wash your leek slices. They are grown in sandy soil and are usually quite dirty. I will use a sharp “junk” knife to slice them because I don’t want to hurt my good knives with the dirt and grit. Then I pour the dirty water from rinsing out in the yard, NOT down my drain.

Okay, let’s be real, if you want to put a whole pound of bacon into the soup, I’m not going to judge. I probably would, too, when I make and serve my family! And if you would snack on the cooked bacon sitting there on the counter, yeah, you might want to cook the whole pound. Bacon. Sometimes there are just no words.

Or, if you must, you can omit the bacon and use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock/broth and enjoy this soup vegetarian-style.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Why don’t you just cook the bacon first and sauté your vegetables in the bacon grease?” Am I right? My thoughts on this are… I don’t want the flavor of bacon throughout the entire dish. I want the bacon flavor on the bacon, not on everything else. However, you may use the method of cooking everything in the bacon grease if you would like. I am only justifying my reasoning.

This recipe has been updated with more practical serving sizes and much-needed photos.

Enjoy!

French Onion Soup

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes | Serves: 4 – 6

I love a good French Onion Soup! It is not a complicated dish. There are steps, as there are to most delicious recipes, but it is not a difficult dish. My touch of flair here lets your oven and a good dousing of an excellent-quality olive oil do the work for you. Most recipes are made of sliced yellow onions caramelized on the stovetop. Here you are bringing together a variety of onions to create flavor, texture, and aesthetics to your dinner table.

If you cannot get your hands on shallots, cipollinis, and pearl onions, use what you can. The oil and other ingredients will still work for you to create a yummy dinner.

I love the “hands-free” part of the recipe. I put my oven to good use while I clean dishes or prep for the next phase of the recipe. It may not be “traditional,” but the end result is a-mazing.

The quality of the extra-virgin olive oil does matter because it plays an important flavor factor in the recipe. There is a substantial amount used for the Onion Confit, but the flavor imparted is worth it. I love Abingdon Olive Oil Company’s oils and vinegars for my recipes.

If you like the idea of the “Onion Confit,” check out my recipe for Shallot Dipping Oil. The confit could also be used as a spread onto sandwiches or topped on toasted bread slices as a bruschetta.

Enjoy!

Tuscan Soup

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Serves: 8

Recipe and photos updated. March 22, 2025. Original recipe posted March 11, 2021

This is so amazing and FRESH tasting! It’s full of fresh vegetables and herbs. I have never tasted anything like this before. It’s crazy-delicious.

“Mise en place” means everything in its place. That means that you have read through the recipe, understood the mission, and have prepped (sliced, chopped, tied, etc.) all the ingredients before beginning to make the recipe. It is an essential task in almost every single recipe. It is good form and a good habit for kitchen success.

Besides mise en place, if there’s anything I stress about this recipe, it is to use the freshest ingredients you can get your hands on. Farmers’ markets are an ideal shopping area for this recipe. Please, do not use any frozen or (God forbid) canned vegetables. Use fresh herbs (with the exception of the bay leaf. I find that fresh bay leaves can be quite potent) and not dried. Fresh herbs have a tender feel and fresh taste in your mouth that dried cannot mimic in this recipe.

You can change out some veggies if you’d like. I wouldn’t go crazy with red beets that will bleed into the soup, but adding yellow squash or leeks would be good options.

I highly suggest homemade vegetable (or chicken) stock. My stock recipes: Vegetable Stock and Chicken Stock. You are taking the extra effort to use fresh ingredients, go ahead and add the best stock you can.

The lovely “bouquet garni.” It’s a fancy French term for a bouquet of fresh herbs. There is no set standard of which herbs are allowed in order for it to be called a bouquet garni, but the idea is the same. If you want to get super-fancy, tie the herbs with a parsley sprig or a leaf of a leek instead of the kitchen twine. Speaking of the twine, be sure you use kitchen grade. Check the labels. Don’t go grab the paracord from the garage or something from your crafting supplies because they may be coated with something you do not want to consume.

Walksofitaly.com has a fantastic article on the essence of Tuscan food, a concept of “poor cooking,” quite literally. Fresh, high-quality ingredients are the backbone of Tuscan cooking. Authentic recipes don’t use crazy seasonings, but allow the ingredients to speak for themselves. It’s really a great article if you’ve got a few extra minutes.

This is a very simple and comforting meal. I kept noticing that recipes labeled “Tuscan” soups online were very Americanized, made into a creamy dish with a lot of dairy. I did a little research and learned that Tuscan food doesn’t use large amounts of heavy cream. Now, I’m not saying I’ll never make the variation with all the creamy yumminess, but what I discovered to be a true Tuscan soup is made quite simply with whatever fresh vegetables, and some meats, are available with a flavorful broth and herbs. I also learned that with the addition of cannellini beans, the soup becomes Ribollita. That’s divine, too!

Now that you have a recipe, you can make it exactly, or use your local farmer’s market to pick what is fresh and in season and come up with your own “poor man’s soup.”

If you wanted to bulk it up with added protein, shredded chicken would be an excellent option.

If you love cooking with fresh ingredients, you’d love my Ratatouille.

Enjoy!

Fish Stew

Fish Stew was developed over my son’s love for shrimp. I thought back to the Fish Stew my husband and I had experience in Iceland and pulled from what I could recall. I wanted something brothy, but a little bit of tomato-y tang.

I decided on 3 readily-available seafood types since we do not live near the coastline for the freshest seafood at my fingertips. If you can get your hands on the coastal seafood, go for it! Feel free to change up the fish and shellfish, but be aware of any changes you may need to make in the cooking time.

Adding some vegetables such as leeks and fennel adds a little extra flavor and sustenance to this stew. If you don’t care for fennel, you can omit it all together. I don’t think it’s that strong, but some people may disagree.

If you purchased frozen seafood, which is usually what I must do, be sure it is thawed before adding it to the hot broth. Adding frozen fish will require more cooking time and can easily cause the fish to overcook.

This Fish Stew is different from the Brazilian Fish Stew “Mocequa,” which uses coconut milk and a bit more acid, such as lime juice. My stew is more brothy. Both stews are absolutely delicious in their own ways.

Curry powder could be added along with the garlic for a bit of an ethnic twist.

Slice your vegetables before beginning. Have your can/containers already opened. This recipe goes fairly quickly.

Another reason I love this recipe is that it is low in fat and Weight Watchers friendly!

Enjoy!

Ground Beef Chili

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes | Serves: 8

Who doesn’t love chili on these wintry nights? I’m sure everyone has their favorite recipe or takeout chili that just hits the spot.

Even though my absolute favorite chili is what is called “A Bowl of Red,” I do love a quicker version with ingredients that are yummy and a little more convenient. Here is a chili recipe using ground beef and a lot of spices to bring some serious chile flavor.

Chili spelled with an “i” does have a different meaning than chile with an “e”. Also, chile powder is not the same thing as chili powder. Here’s a great article by The Spruce Eats to read for explanations instead of me boring the life out of you.

Use whichever fat percentage of ground beef you would like. I am currently using 93% lean due to being on Weight Watchers. When you’re browning the beef, leave some big chunks if you’ll be serving some carnivores at heart. They may appreciate that.

Since the spice list is quite lengthy, let me put a plug out there for using newly opened spices. Sure, we probably all have the spices in our pantry that are years old, but dry spices lose their potency over time. The general consensus is that spices last up to 6 months for best results. One year may be pushing it, but I’ll admit, I don’t do a clean-out every six months. However, if we are having guests, I will purchase a new jar if necessary just bring the best flavors to the table.

I have unsalted beef stock listed in the ingredients for liquid. I use unsalted because of the addition of a beef base concentrate, which is quite salty. You can always add salt, but it is a bear trying to help restore a dish from extreme sodium. An extra note here, beef bone broth would be very good and healthy as a substitute for the beef stock.

The nice thing about chili is that it is adaptable. You can use more onion, or omit if you despise them; add more of certain spices (or less) if they turn you off to chili. I put these flavors together with purpose, so I wouldn’t go too far off the reservation, which then you’d be making your own Chili recipe. Hey, if my recipe is inspiration, go for it!

Enjoy!

Green Chicken Chili

I seriously would not substitute or omit anything listed here. All these flavors work together to result in the best bowl of Green Chicken Chili. You can omit the jalapenos/serranos if you don’t want any heat, but that’s about it.

The prep work is pretty extensive because you’re washing all veggies and seeding and chopping, plus trimming the fat from the chicken thighs. But, the freshness this chili brings is worth it!

A few notes on the ingredients here… If you’ve never cooked with fresh tomatillos, remove all the outer husks. Some husks may be stuck to the tomatillos, and you have to scrub them off. They are sticky! I use soap and water to wash each one by hand to get that stickiness removed. It is time consuming, but necessary when using fresh tomatillos. Don’t use the canned ones here. They do not taste the same as fresh; they are generally pickled.

Cannellini beans are white kidney beans. Use dried and cook them for this recipe if you would like. The canned version works very well here. Just be sure to drain and rinse them. The recipe calls for 1 15-ounce can, but if you love beans, use 2 cans.

You could use chicken breasts, but the thighs are more flavorful and tender. It takes the worry out of the possibility that the chicken breasts could turn out tough.

A variety of toppings for your chili, if you prefer, is listed below in the “recipe card.” Feel free to use anything else you would personally love atop Green Chicken Chili. This makes 8 generous portions, which means leftovers for my family. We love that!

Enjoy!

Oven-Braised Beef Stew

Beef, and a lot of it. That was my #1 goal. There is lots of protein and flavor in chunks of beef. And this is one of those stews that gets better overnight, and even day two is amazing!

Feel free to pack in more vegetables. Others you can add are green beans, celery, mushrooms, and/or a 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes. If you do add more veggies, you may need to add more liquid (beef stock), too, so they are just submerged.

This is a non-alcoholic recipe. Many beef stew recipes call for red wine or ale, etc., but this recipe does not. The worcestershire sauce and balsamic add a bit of acidity that would come with adding wine. You don’t really taste the acid, but it balances out all the flavors.

Big note here… be mindful of how much salt you’re adding to the dish. Some premade beef stocks contain more salt than others; keep that in mind as you add a pinch here and there. I used Swanson’s Beef Stock which was not low-sodium. You cannot just “taste as you go” with this recipe because you are dealing with raw beef. The nutrition chart calculates for an added 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.

Enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe begins with making homemade chicken stock. You are welcome to skip this step entirely and purchase a whole rotisserie chicken and store bought stock, or use some homemade stock you’ve previously frozen. But, if you want the best flavor, make your own chicken stock from fresh chicken on the bone. It’s some work, but super-satisfying making this Chicken Noodle Soup from scratch. See Notes below the recipe if you’re going to purchase pre-cooked chicken and stock.

Use aromatics when you’re cooking your chicken for the stock. They will help flavor your stock, and that’s certainly something you want. At times, I will rummage through my refrigerator and find any vegetables that are about past their prime, and that would contribute flavor to my stock. I will chop and throw those in (such as bell peppers, leeks, green onion, herbs, etc.; not vegetables like beets that will bleed and turn your chicken stock into Valentine’s day.) I think you get my drift.

Notice I listed only 2 teaspoons of kosher salt in the ingredients for the stock. Good rule of thumb, you can always add salt, but you cannot take it out. (Sorry, but the potato thing never worked for me!) You can add salt as you go instead of dumping a guessed, large amount into the water before cooking your chicken. It’s a safe way to cook.

Good news! You can adjust your veggies in this recipe. Add more or less carrots if you would like. My kids aren’t really big celery eaters, so I would probably lower that amount just for them. Love onions? Add more! Leeks would be good in this recipe, too.

Enjoy!

Black-Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup (Pressure Cooker)

I was gifted a gorgeous hostess set from Inox Artisans and wanted to style the ladle with some sort of soup. I’d be able to create a new recipe, try out my ladle and showcase this brand and their products in one sweep. How fun!

** Black eyed peas are actually beans, so I am going to refer to them as beans throughout this recipe. I hope that helps clear up any confusion.

I had made a soup similar to this a few years back and could not remember the website where I had gotten the recipe, so going by memory and adding some of my favorite ingredients, this soup was born. I loved it! My husband loved it! It’s warm, homey, hearty, and flavorFUL! Read on for some tips about this recipe.

I used a pressure cooker for this recipe because I didn’t take the time to soak my beans overnight, nor did I want to take the time to do a “quick soak” on the stovetop. Pressure cooking eliminates all that. If you soak your beans, your cooking time will be even less than if you don’t soak them.

Let me take a side note here on pressure cookers…I have a stovetop pressure cooker, a sort of modern classic. I do not own an electric/instant pot. I did some research and decided the stovetop would fit my cooking style. And I have to admit, the nostalgia of growing up with my grandmother having a stovetop pressure cooker, did play a role. America’s Test Kitchen was a great resource for me. If you are debating on electric or stovetop, they offer pros and cons on many models. Very helpful! Cooking times are a bit shorter with a stovetop versus electric, so keep that in mind when you read recipes.

A word about the beans… dried beans are considered “non-perishable”, but the quality does expire. Keeping them in an airtight container helps, but not for eternity. You can cook them after the expiration date on the package, but let your eyes and nose help you determine if they can still be eaten or should be thrown out. Here is a great article that covers several points on cooking dried beans. *I am not a nutritionist, these comments are my personal thoughts. Please, do your own research if you’d like to be more thorough on this topic.

You might read some recipes that suggest adding a tablespoon of oil to your cooking liquid, to keep the beans from getting “foamy.“ In this recipe, since you are rendering the fat from the sausage, there’s no need to add any extra oil.

I added a very small amount of dried Italian seasoning, just enough to have a hint of earthiness, but not enough to be a dominant flavor. You can certainly add more or omit it all together.

You are welcome to change up the greens! Spinach or kale (hardy stems removed) would be delicious in this Black-Eyed Pea and Sausage Soup, too!

Do you have to use a  pressure cooker? Nope. You can make this recipe in a stockpot or Dutch oven on your stovetop. Follow the directions through Step 6. Then, bring your mixture up to a gentle simmer and cook for 35-ish minutes to an hour or so, depending on whether or not you soaked your beans, and how hot your burner is. Carefully taste a bean for the firmness desired and season as needed. Discard bay leaves as instructed. Continue recipe through to the end.

I have not used the slow cooker method for this recipe, but I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding a recipe online if you’re interested in this method.

Enjoy!

Alphabet Soup

If you cannot find ABC pasta with the other pastas in your grocery store, look in the Mexican/International aisle or in a Mexican grocery store. I discovered while researching soup bases that Mexican ABC Soup toasts their pasta in oil before adding liquids. It imparts a toasty flavor, which sounds intriguing to me. If you choose to toast first, please, let me know how it turns out!

This is basically a vegetable soup with adorable letters (and maybe numbers), so you can adjust the vegetables and herbs if you would like. I have some suggestions listed in the Notes below the recipe, but I will also list them here for you…

This is important: You will need plenty of liquid in your soup for your pasta to absorb and “bulk up.” I have listed 1 to 2 quarts of stock in the ingredients. Judge as you go; you may need more than a quart. I personally used about 1 ½ quarts of chicken stock. And speaking of stock, make sure it is a good-tasting stock since it is the base to this yummy soup.

Taste for seasoning before you add the pasta. You want your broth to taste really good so your pasta absorbs flavor. You’ll probably have to season again before serving, but it is important to have really tasty broth before your pasta is added.