Tuscan bread and vegetable soup (Ribollita)

1. Dice the onion, carrots and celery small and finely chop the garlic; cube the potatoes and courgette, cut the thick central vein out of the cabbage leaves and shred the leaves.

2. In a large saucepan, cook the onion, carrots and celery gently in the olive oil for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and thyme and fry for 1 minute.

3. Add the potatoes, courgette, cabbage and the peeled tomatoes crushed by hand, pour in the stock and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

4. Mash half the rinsed beans with a fork and add them to the soup with the whole beans; simmer for another 15 minutes and season with salt and pepper.

5. Layer the stale (1-2 day old) bread slices in a deep dish, alternating with the soup; cover and leave for at least 1 hour (better still overnight), then return to the pan, bring slowly back to the boil and stir into a thick soup a spoon can stand in.

6. Serve in bowls with a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Tip: "Ribollita" means "reboiled": it's best the next day, reheated; the original uses Tuscan black kale (cavolo nero), for which Savoy cabbage is a good substitute.