Enjoy this rustic Italian Bean Soup made in the Instant Pot. It’s full of rich broth, fresh vegetables and white beans.
Ribollita | Instant Pot Italian Bean Soup
Ribollita is a classic white bean Italian soup. Every region has a slightly different versions and it’s one of those rustic peasant dishes that is a taste of home for many. What’s wonderful about this soup is almost any vegetable can be added to it, whatever is in season, whatever is on hand and it’s always delicious.
One of the classic components of Ribollita is the day old bread is added to the soup. It’s often layers so it can soak up the broth and becomes soft flavor sponges to enjoy as the soup is eaten. My version is a little different. Instead of layering it in sourdough bread, we make savory herb scones that can be eaten along with the soup.
We make this versions in the Instant Pot which means it’d done in record time and full of flavors.
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Ribollita | Instant Pot Bean Soup
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Great Northern Beans soaked 6-8 hours
- 3-4 strips of bacon- optional
- 3-4 Carrots chopped
- 2 ribs of celery chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 28 oz can of tomatoes
- 1 head of kale - remove ribs
- 2 cups butternut squash chopped into small pieces
- 2-3 C Broth
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves- optional
- Good quality of olive oil
- * use other vegetables like zucchini, cabbage, potatoes, or other in season options.
Instructions
- Sauté your onions, garlic, celery and carrots in your Instant Pot using the sauté feature. Make sure to add a good amount of high quality Olive oil. If using bacon also add it at this time. Cook for 10 mins. Season with a small amount of salt while cooking.
- You can leave the sauté feature on while you add the other ingredients as this will keep the pot hot and help it come to pressure sooner. You will now add everything to the pot except the kale. Cook under pressure for 15 mins and allow a 15 min natural release.
- Once you have allowed the natural release, remove the lid form the instant pot and add your kale and place he lid back on the pot, but do not have it in a cooking mode. The greens will cook from the residual heat of the soup. Wait 5-10 mins and remove the lid.
- Now that the beans have finished cooking and are tender add salt.
- Serve with parmesan cheese, a drizzle of olive oil, and savory scones.
- Notes:
- Adding salt to beans before they are cooked will make them tough and grainy. Add salt at the end of the cooking process.
- Old beans take longer to cook. I often find that beans bought in the bulk second of the market need longer to cook because these beans are generally older. There is nothing wrong with them, but beans that have set on the shelf for a longer period of time often take a few minutes longer to cook. If you test your beans at the end of cooking and they are not soft and creamy, then cook them another 10 or 15 mins and allow for 15 mins of natural release
- You can use a variety of fresh vegetables in this recipe. Just remember any quick cooking vegetables like, kale, cabbage, chard, spinach or other soft vegetables will be added to the instant pot at the end of cooking and not cooked under pressure. This is because the pressure cookers heat and time is too intense for these vegetables and it will over-cook them.
