If you have dried beans then start by putting them in lots of water for 12 hours before cooking, I leave mine overnight. They should double in size and get softer by the morning.
Cook the beans by adding them in a pot with LOTS of cold water, rosemary and bay leaves until it just starts to boil. Now bring the heat down to the very minimum on the smallest fire you have and leave to cook for 2 hours without mixing the beans so that they don't fall apart. Check to ensure that there is still water. (I would suggest putting the rosemary in a un-dyed cloth if you don't want to spend ages fishing out the needles from the beans like I had to do)
Whilst this is cooking you can start by chopping everything up like shown in the picture below. For the Parmesan rind if using, scrape the part with the numbers a bit and chop it into thing pieces
When the beans are ready fish them out and keep the water that you cooked them in. You can use that with some stock to make your vegetable broth.
Now put some butter and oil (oil only for vegan option) into a large pot, if cast iron or clay even better. Add the onion, celery and carrots until soft, add the potatoes and the parmesan grind if using and cook for a couple of minutes. Now add the passata and cook for a few minutes.
Add the cavolo nero, chard and cabbage and use some of the broth to cover most of the vegetables. The leaves don't need to be submerged at this point. as they will quickly diminish in size when cooked. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 hours checking every 30 min or so to ensure that the broth is not boiling down. If it looks too watery remove the lid to let it dry out.
In the meantime take more than half of the beans and mix with with a mixer until they become a thick puree. You will add this to the soup later on.
At the end of the 2 hours add the mixed beans and cook for another 30 minutes.
Final stage, add the courgettes and the whole cannellini beans and cook for a final 30 minutes.
To serve, toast the bread slices and put it at the bottom of a dish. Add the ribollita, sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of parmesan.
