Week 184: Chicken Ribollita Soup

Thank you for letting me take last week off to spend some quality time with my family, or as the kids call it "Triple F"...Forced Family Fun. We snuck in a few days skiing, plenty of powder to enjoy but they were the coldest three days in a row skiing I've ever experienced. Let's just say that when it hit 0 degrees, which it only did once, we were ecstatic. I am very excited to be back inside a warm kitchen cooking for your families this week.

This week's soup, which is really more of a stew, originates in the Tuscany region of Italy and is a simple soup. Simple in the sense that the ingredients are leftover bread, cannellini beans, cabbage and inexpensive vegetables like carrots, celery and onions. But the soup tastes anything but simple ... It's flavorful, hearty and perfect for a winter's evening dinner!!

On the menu for TUESDAY, JANUARY 25th is CHICKEN RIBOLLITA SOUP with ROSEMARY FOCACCIA. My tasty interpretation of Ribollita is a hearty, comforting stew choked full of veggies, bites of fresh chicken, creamy white beans and shredded cabbage ... and it's garnished with homemade herbed croutons!

The soup begins with sautéing onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the pot with olive oil. After a few minutes, shredded cabbage is added. Once all the veggies are softened, fire-roasted diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, homemade chicken stock, tender bites of chicken and spices are mixed in. The soup simmers until all the flavors blend together. And while the traditional ribollita soup is reheated with leftover bread...I thought it would be a lot more fun (and tastier) to garnish the soup with homemade herbed croutons.

The bread companion this week is my ROSEMARY FOCACCIA. It's crisp on the outside yet soft and chewy on the inside. Extra-virgin olive oil gives the bread texture and flavor while fresh rosemary and flaked sea salt add the finishing touches to make this bread so unbelievably delicious. This bread is a perfect choice for this Italian soup!