Dear Soup Development Team,
Out of respect for the fact that we are now probably in a re#$##*&n, I thought I would mark the occasion with Minestrone. In Italy, Minestrone is a soup referred to as cucina povera (literally “poor kitchen”) meaning poorer people’s cuisine. Also, there is no fixed recipe for Minestrone, as typically whatever is in season is used. I’ve made the soup about half a dozen times this year, and the below is how I would typically make it.
Minestrone of Sound
In a soup pan, sweat two pieces of chopped bacon for a couple minutes
Add the below, cook on medium for about ten minutes
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup of cabbage, chopped
¼ cup Italian parsley chopped
¼ cup basil, chopped
Add the below, cook for 30 mins, bring to boil then cook on low
Drain and chop a can of tomatoes (canned tomatoes have more flavour)
Add a can of cannellini beans
Add 10 cups of chicken stock (home made is better, store bought works too)
Add 1 cup of shell pasta (or something similar), cook for another 15 minutes
Salt and pepper to taste
If you’re eating right away, drizzle some olive oil and garnish with grated parmesan
The flavour of Minestrone isn’t going to blow you away, but it’s a good, hearty, filling soup. Also, I find that Minestrone actually tastes better the next day, once the flavours have had a chance to come together and the stock base thickens a bit. Although dried herbs are okay sometimes, I wouldn’t use dried basil here as a substitute. Instead, if you don’t want to buy fresh you can use basil in a jar that you can find in most Asian grocery stores for about a buck and a half.
Until next week,
Jayro
“made from scratch”
http://soupupmysoup.wordpress.com
