Mama Caruso's Ribollita Recipe - A Rustic Italian Soup

Mama Caruso’s Ribollita Recipe

Ribollita ingredients

Ribollita is a hearty Italian peasant soup. I first made ribollita while in Panzano in Chianti, Italy and when the cooking was all done, people came from all over to enjoy the meal. Paired with a simple house red wine and an apple tart, the locals shared with me that this was one of their favorite meals because it reminded them of their childhood; the fragrance while cooking, the comfort of the rustic flavors and the satisfying heartiness of the ribollita.

There are hundreds of recipes for this soup and I have taken broad liberties to make it a contemporary soup that is versatile and great for either a cold winter night or sitting out on the patio on a long summer’s evening. Enjoy...

Rustic Italian Ribollita Soup Mama Caruso Style

Mama Caruso's Ribollita Ingredients

Congratulations to winners of the "food tradition" question from last week. Advance copies of the Ribollita Recipe have been delivered and soon will be coming to you, but first let me tell you a little bit about what make this hearty soup so special.

Ribollita means “reboiled” and is a hearty Italian peasant soup. I first made ribollita while in Panzano in Chianti in Tuscany, Italy and when the cooking was all done, people came from all over to enjoy the meal.

Food traditions? Childhood favorites? What are some of yours?

Food traditions?  Childhood favorites?  What are some of yours? Here’s one of mine….who knows what this is? Be the first 5 to reply and tell me what childhood favorite this is or share one of your own at www.mamacarusocooks.blogspot.com on Twitter @MamaCaruso1 or e-mail at mamacaruso@yahoo.com include your e-mail address and you will receive an advance copy of Mama Caruso’s Ribollita Recipe with all of the special variations and tips and bring rustic Tuscan cooking right into your life today.

Exotic travel is not necessary for a great food experience

Exotic travel is not always necessary for a great food experience to arise, and in fact, the person having the food experience does not even need to be the one traveling to make a great story. That is at the very core of this site to bring travel and food experiences into people’s lives. So today’s story is about a food tradition that happens when someone else travels.

Food traditions play a large part in my life and perhaps in yours too. We serve certain foods on special occasions, we have our favorite “go-to” comfort foods”, we may even have rituals or superstitions about making sure that we do or do not eat the same foods before we take a test, participate in a sport or some other significant occasion in our lives. Well my daughter and I have a very special food tradition when my husband goes fishing. I can’t tell you when we started, or even when it went from being a good idea to being a ritual to a food tradition…but it was this weekend that I realized what an ingrained tradition it had become.

So what do we do when he takes that first fishing trip of the season?

Andrew Zimmern Inspires Foodies at #TECHmunch Food Bloggers Workshop

Andrew Zimmern along with so many other presenters and speakers offered words of advice, guidance and stories about their experiences at the #TECHmunch Food Bloggers Workshop in Minneapolis today. The message that I heard over and over again was “Have a point of view and stand by it.” Well, I am very clear about

The Tuscan Farmhouse Picnic Lunch

The Tuscan Farmhouse Picnic Lunch

One of the things that I love about Italian cooking is that it really can be simple, and in many cases, does not involve a lot of cooking. How funny is that? Take the lunch that I had in this old Tuscan farmhouse restaurant while in Tuscany as an example. Walking in the door surrounded by old wagon wheels you are immediately transported to some ancient time in Italy where the farm hands gathered in the wine cellar for their noon lunch to get out of the heat of the day.