Minestrone (Minestrone)

Name: Minestrone
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 3 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, diced; 2 potatoes and 2 courgettes, diced; 400 g tin chopped tomatoes; 400 g tin borlotti beans, drained; 100 g ditalini or small pasta; 1.5 l vegetable stock, Parmesan to serve

Overview

Minestrone is less a fixed recipe than an Italian habit: a thick, generous vegetable soup made with whatever the garden or market offers. A soffritto of onion, carrot and celery is softened in olive oil, then joined by beans, potatoes, courgettes, green beans, cabbage or chard and a little tomato. Small pasta or rice is often added towards the end, making it a complete meal in one bowl. Many cooks drop in a Parmesan rind to give the broth a savoury depth. In Liguria it is finished with a spoon of pesto, while Milanese versions use rice. Like many soups, it improves overnight and is also eaten lukewarm in summer. Use vegetarian hard cheese to keep it vegetarian.

History

Minestrone belongs to the Italian tradition of cucina povera, or cooking of the poor, in which nothing was wasted. Thick vegetable soups with grains or legumes were already eaten in ancient Rome, and over the centuries Italian families kept making them from whatever was in season. Ingredients from the Americas, such as tomatoes, beans like borlotti, potatoes and courgettes, later became standard. Because every region and household made its own version, there has never been a single fixed recipe.

Main ingredients

Seasonal vegetables, borlotti or cannellini beans, small pasta, tomato, parmesan rind, olive oil. The soup is built on vegetable broth and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.

Explore: Bean soups · Tomato soups · Cheese soups · More soups from Italy

Recipe

4Serves

1h 5m20 prep · 45 cook

~250kcal / serving

EasyDifficulty

Method

1
10 min
Gently cook the onion, carrot and celery in olive oil for 10 minutes.
2
5 min
Add the potatoes, courgettes and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
3
20 min
Pour in the stock, add the beans and simmer for 20 minutes.
4
Add the pasta and cook until tender, adding water if it gets too thick.
5
Season, drizzle with olive oil and serve with grated cheese.
✓
Serve. About 1h 5m from start to bowl.

Pictures

Sources

Minestrone (Wikipedia)

Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.