Soup as a Form of Meditation

A very good ribollita recipe.

My year has been off to a slow start, but that’s what I’m going for. My goal this year is to live a slow, quiet, and authentic life (or as slow and quiet as you can get living in New York). For me, this starts in the kitchen. At one point in my life, before big girl jobs and real responsibilities, I think I used cooking as a meditative process before I even really knew what meditation was. From planning the menu and going shopping to chopping vegetables and watching the slow process of simple ingredients reach their potential on the stovetop. There’s something to be said for completing a task with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company.

At some point, I forgot to slow down. Call it a workplace hazard. Even as I was making this ribollita, I found myself rushing. Rushing to peel and chop, rushing to open cans. Even when rushing is wholly unnecessary for such a simple recipe. So it’s a learning process for sure.

I wasn’t planning on posting this recipe, but to some extent, not sticking to a planned schedule feels like it goes hand in hand with living authentically. In that same spirit, this photo was taken in front of a window in need of dusting, in the very last moments of daylight.

Ribollita Ingredients

• Soffritto: Every decent soup starts with a base of aromatics, usually a combination of onions, celery, and carrots. Some call it mirepoix, others call it the holy trinity. Italians call it soffritto, and it is what begins to build flavor for this soup. I want to stress its importance because I witnessed my mom making a soffritto-less soup recipe that I can only describe as hot bean water. It begs the question, “where have all the recipe developers gone?” but that’s a discussion for another time. All of this to say, please for the love of god at least sauté an onion.

• Tomatoes: You can use canned or fresh, diced or crushed, really whatever you like. I often reach for the Mutti canned cherry tomatoes and give them a good crush on the side of the pot.

• Beans: Two cans of buttery white beans provide the protein.

• Greens: What are beans without greens? I like a hearty bunch of kale here — it becomes tender without losing its texture. If you’re using a more delicate leaf, stir them in in the last few minutes of cooking.

• Bread: Traditionally, ribollita is made by reheating an existing vegetable soup with some day-old bread. The bread soaks up the broth and thickens it.