A Cozy, One-Pot Dinner

That's also a cure for the stale-bread blues

Hi friends,

No matter how organized we try to be about mitigating food waste, we frequently find ourselves with the tail end of a nice loaf of bread, hard as a rock and languishing on our counter. But you know who’s good at using stale bread? Italians. From ribollita, to panzanella to pappa al pomodoro, every region in Italy seems to have its go-to solution for bread that has gone uneaten—they’re all simple, economical and very delicious.

This week, we’re featuring a mashup of a few of these favorite traditional recipes: a very cozy and delicious soup with plenty of tender vegetables, beans, and big, custardy hunks of bread. We’re calling it “Pane Vecchio¹” soup though it is far more vegetable-filled and nutritionally dense than the name would suggest. After a bit of time to prep and sweat your ingredients, it cooks without needing any attention, feeds a big and cranky crowd (new eaters included!), and is delicious for days.

Happy slurping,

Greta + Fanny

---

As you can see, we used vegetables that you can get year-round, but you can absolutely sub in other ingredients as they come into season: green garlic, summer squash and zucchini, fresh tomatoes, escarole, asparagus would all be great additions here—just be mindful of cooking time and add the more delicate vegetables (like asparagus) towards the end.

The Stats

• 1 hour total, active time ~15 mins

• Feeds 8 adults and twice as many children, but can easily be halved for fewer. 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped celery

• 1 ½ cups coarsely chopped peeled carrot

• 1 ½ cups large diced onion

• 1 ½ cups chopped leek

• 1 ½ cups chopped peeled kabocha or butternut squash (~½-inch cubes)

• ½ head of garlic, cloves coarsely chopped or garlic pressed (about six large cloves)

• 1 large 28oz can of peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano, but whatever variety is fine)

• 1 bunch of lacinato kale (aka Tuscan kale or cavolo nero), leaves torn from the stalks and chopped in a thick chiffonade

• 1 can (15.5oz) of cannellini beans, rinsed well

• 1 small bunch of parsley, chopped

• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary

• ⅓ of a loaf of stale, rustic sourdough bread (roughly three cups of torn bread) — the better the bread, the better the soup. Choose a fermented sourdough, preferably made with at least some rye and/or whole wheat.

• 32 oz of vegetable broth, bone broth or chicken stock

• 3 cups water

• Zest of 1 organic lemon

• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt

• Black pepper

• Parmesan cheese to taste

Method

1. Combine celery, carrot, onion, leek, squash, garlic, rosemary and ½ cup of olive oil. Sweat over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot until softened and fragrant, about ten minutes with occasional stirring to prevent burning.

2. Add the can of whole peeled tomatoes, using a wooden spoon to break them up into smaller, irregular chunks.

3. Add the broth/stock and the water and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer; add the beans and chopped kale, and cover.

4. If your bread is unpleasantly stale but not yet unchewably stale, you’ll want to toast it a bit. Tear (or carefully cut) your bread into large hunks, lay on a baking sheet and toast in a toaster oven (or a preheated oven at 350F) until lightly browned and thoroughly dehydrated.

5. After about 30 minutes of simmering, uncover the pot, add salt and black pepper and taste. If it’s tasting a bit watery, keep it uncovered. If it needs more time for the vegetables to soften or the flavors to “marry,” let it simmer for another ten.

6. Add the parsley and lemon zest and stir well, then add the bread, using a wood spoon to press it into the broth, turn off the heat, and cover.

7. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to thoroughly soften the bread, then scoop into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, shower with grated Parm and serve.

Notes

This is a great soup for babies and toddlers new to solids, just cut everything smaller, chiffonade the kale finely, omit or halve the salt, and use crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled ones. Before serving, check that the vegetables are very soft, adding more cooking time if necessary.

1. This translates to “old bread” soup. Sounds better in Italian, huh?