Minestrone – Your 5-A-Day in One Bowl
Welcome to the thirteenth instalment of my series where I test out recipes from an obscure 1990s Italian cookbook. This time, I tried a dish from the ‘Soups’ section, the classic Minestrone:
Admittedly, the thought of a healthy bowl of soup can be a bit uninspiring sometimes. I’m quite aware that this recipe is a harder one to sell than say, a cheesy gnocchi bake or a creamy Alfredo, but I still think Minestrone is exceptional; a rainbow concoction of vegetables and herbs.
Typically, Minestrone is a tomato based soup containing beans and vegetables – onions, celery, carrots, and leafy greens.
It’s one of those dishes, however, which varies hugely from household to household, and can easily be adapted to whatever you have handy in the cupboard – evidenced in just how many adjustments I made myself to the recipe in the book:
I used two sticks of celery rather than three, and just used one large potato. I didn’t bother adding green beans either, but did add some cherry tomatoes and I switched the cabbage for spinach as I prefer this in a soup; plus it won’t stink the house out as much… I wasn’t lying when I said you can really experiment with this recipe.
I thought the recipe could do with some some bay leaves, a parmesan rind, and some basil for a rounder flavour – you can use any herb you like.
I soaked dried beans and cooked them in the slow cooker beforehand, but you can also use a standard can of cannellini beans. If you do have the time and patience, however, I really recommend going to the bother as the texture is so much better.
I used 500 ml of passata rather than tinned chopped tomatoes but either will work excellently.
Perhaps the most questionable ingredient in the recipe was 3 beef stock cubes – I switched this for some homemade vegetable stock instead. You can also dilute one or two vegetable stock cubes in a litre of boiling water before adding, but I would definitely add one at a time. Stock cubes vary in salt content, hence why I think the suggestion of adding three of them all at once is a bit mental! Unless you’re a salt fiend, happy to drink a gallon of water afterwards.
Overall, this recipe was pretty fail-safe, the only questionable element being the abundance of beef stock cubes.
BOOK RECIPE RATING: 7/10
However you choose to make it, I’d always recommend serving alongside some toasted bread, and if you’d like to go the extra mile of making it yourself, check out the Italian Bread recipe from instalment eight.
Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- Extra virgin olive oil a good glug – enough to cover the base of the saucepan
- Butter a dessert spoonful
- 2 red onions finely chopped
- 3 carrots chopped into thin slices
- 2 sticks of celery diced into small cubes
- 1 large potato diced into small cubes
- 2 courgettes chopped into thin slices
- cherry tomatoes a handful, quartered
- 1 litre good quality vegetable stock
- 500 ml passata
- 2 bay leaves
- fresh herbs [see notes] a handful, chopped
- parmesan rind optional
- 400 g drained cannellini beans see notes
- 125g spinach
Instructions
- Heat the oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat.
- Add the onions and cook for 5-10 minutes or until translucent and golden brown. Add the carrots and cook again for about 2-3 minutes. Repeat this process with the celery, potatoes, courgettes, and tomatoes [or whatever hard vegetables you are using]
- Add the vegetable stock, the passata, bay leaves, chosen herbs, and parmesan rind [if using]. Bring to the boil before reducing the heat and cooking for 1-2 hours, or until the soup has thickened.
- During the last 15 minutes of cooking, add the drained beans and spinach, and stir. Season with extra salt and pepper to taste and garnish with some extra herbs and grated parmesan.
Notes
- I soaked the beans and cooked them in the slow cooker beforehand, but you can also use a standard can of cannellini beans. If you do have the time and patience, however, I really recommend going this extra mile as the texture is so much better.
- You can use any herb you like – basil and parsley work excellently.
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