Ribollita

• 2 1/2 cups dried white beans
• 9 cups cold water
• 6 whole garlic cloves plus 2 cloves minced
• 14 fresh sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 carrots, minced
• 2 onions, minced
• 1 celery rib, minced
• 10 ounces kale, no ribs, finely chopped
• 2 zucchini, finely diced
• 2 leeks, thinly sliced (optional)
• 2 potatoes, finely diced
• 1 cup basil leaves (or add pesto later)
• 2 ounces tomato paste, dissolved in bean water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 cup chicken broth

1. Soak the beans overnight and drain.
2. Cook the beans in 9 cups cold water with the whole cloves of garlic and the sage leaves. When the beans come to the boil, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, and turn heat down very low. Cover and don't look for 1 1/2 hours.
3. Add salt and turn off burner at the same time. Let the beans sit, or, better yet, continue the next day.
4. Saute onion, minced garlic, carrots, and celery over low heat for 20 minutes.
5. Take out 1 cup beans and 2 1/4 cups cooking water. Puree the rest of the beans with a puree stick. Return whole beans to pot along with sauteed veg, kale, zucchini, leeks, potatoes, and basil leaves. Stir in tomato paste and add 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, some reserved bean liquid, and bouillon cube. Cover and cook slowly for at least 2 hours. At this point we transferred into a slow cooker.
6. We served toast on the side instead of pouring soup over bread. We swirled a little pesto and freshly grated Parmesan into each serving bowl.

white beans, cold water, garlic, sage, salt, olive oil, carrots, onions, celery, kale, zucchini, leeks, potatoes, basil, tomato paste, salt, freshly ground black pepper, chicken

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/ribollita-53078221 (may not work)