According to tradition, ribollita was prepared on Fridays with all the leftover vegetables of the week cooked together with stale bread. Originally, ribollita wasn’t a vegetarian dish and contained pancetta or pork rind. Nowadays, most people make it without meat. Step 5 Add washed and chopped kale to pot and cook until the kale wilts. I loved Heinz spaghetti hoops as a child, there’s something so joyous and nostalgic about enjoying them on buttered toast. After not being able to have them for years I noticed the ingredients used were quite simple, so I set about creating the perfect recipe at home. I am VERY pleased with the result! The word ‘pecora’ means sheep in Italian and alla pecorara means shepherd’s style. So, I imagine this dish got its name from the generous quantity of sheep’s ricotta and pecorino in it. Like many traditional Italian pasta recipes, anellini alla pecorara is a dish that originated in what the Italians call ‘la cucina povera’, meaning the peasant kitchen. It’s made with produce the peasants and farmers made or grew themselves. Thus, the vegetables they grew, the cheese they produced and the pasta they made themselves! Add tomato passata or chopped tomatoes to soffrito. Season, stir and simmer. How to make the pecorara sauce. To make the pasta for this recipe you will need both Italian ‘00’ soft wheat flour and durum wheat semolina flour. Most recipes call for equal amounts of both, plus eggs and sometimes water and olive oil too. I used 150g of each flour, 2 eggs, a little water and a teaspoon of olive oil. You can use 3 eggs instead of adding water and olive oil and all-purpose flour instead of the Italian ‘00’ flour. Put the flours and eggs in a bowl. Add salt, olive oil and water. Mix together until you have a dough. Knead the dough on a work surface. Let it rest and then make the pasta rings. Despite the fact that Tuscany is famous for its beautiful and elaborate art and architecture, the traditional cuisine in this central Italian region is very rustic! Like other parts of Italy, the Tuscan kitchen is based on what Italians call ‘la cucina povera’ (the kitchen of the poor).

The most favourite beans in Tuscany are definitely cannellini, which I have used in this Tuscan kale, white bean and pasta soup. Borlotti (cranberry beans) are also very popular. Both these types of beans are traditionally used in soups, with pasta and as side dishes. Step 3 Sauté onions, garlic, carrots and celery in olive oil until soft. Tuscan Kale. Many traditional dishes come from a time when poverty was the culinary mother of invention! The peasant and rural population made tasty, nutritious and filling meals from what was available and what they cultivated themselves without spending much money. Step 1 Gather your ingredients.I made the dough in the same way as other pasta doughs by mixing the flours then adding the eggs and olive oil and then water as required. Durum wheat semolina has a higher gluten content than soft wheat flour, so pasta dough made with it requires a bit more kneading to get it soft and pliable. Make the rings by wrapping thin 'snakes' of dough around your index finger and sealing the ends together. Nearly all recipes for homemade anellini alla pecorara call for sautéed egpplant, zucchini and bell peppers. The latter can be any colour but I prefer red, yellow or orange. This time, I used one red pepper and one yellow. These are all summer veggies, although nowadays we can find them year-round. Some recipes also include mushrooms but not the one I followed. Of course, you can add them too. Sauté the cubed vegetables with olive oil and garlic For those of you based in the US, these are similar to spaghettiOs, but based on the UK Heinz Spaghetti Hoops recipe. I’ve not tried the US version so am not sure if the flavours are the same, but hopefully they are pretty similar! Gluten Free Spaghetti Hoops Recipe Stir for 1 minute and add the crushed tomatoes. Add 1/2 cup of water to the tomato can to wash it and pour into the pot. The filling starts with lean beef that is simmered with onions, celery, and carrots for an entire day. The braised meat is then finely minced and combined with breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, an egg, and a couple of ladles of the broth from the simmering pot.

Of course, you can serve this sauce with other types of pasta. I think it would go really well with orecchiette or cavatelli, especially if they are homemade. However, if you make homemade anellini, I’m sure you’ll love the authentic version of this pasta recipe from Abruzzo as much as we do. Serve with sautéed veggies, extra ricotta and grated pecorino (if using) This recipe makes enough for 2 generous portions of gluten free spaghetti hoops to have on toast (as a side dish they’ll go a bit further). If you need more or less simply double or halve the recipe. They are naturally gluten and dairy free, plus vegan too. The tomato sauce in this recipe has a base or soffrito of finely diced and sautéed onion, carrots and celery. Soffritto is the Italian mirepoix and is used in many sauce, soup and stewed meat recipes. Before it’s cooked Italians refer to it as ‘battuto’. When the sauce is ready stir in the ricotta. Drain the pasta and add it to the tomato sauce and mix well. Then plate and add some sautéed vegetables, fresh basil leaves, extra ricotta and grated pecorino if using. As I mentione above Italian pecorino isn't vegetarian so you can leave it out or use vegetarian parmesan. Let me know what you think.

I’m sure you’ll love this traditional Tuscan kale, white bean and pasta soup as much as we do. It’s super healthy and nutritious. One of our favourite pasta soup recipes, particularly during the colder months of the year or just when we want to have a healthy meatless meal. While beef is the traditional protein for the filling of anolini, you could definitely use another cut. Try pork shoulder, lamb shank, or the meat from a stewing hen.