Minestrone

Name: Minestrone
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italiana
Ingredients: 100 g Pasta; 1 u Onion; 2 cloves Garlic; 2 u Carrot; 2 u Celery; 2 u Potato; 1 u Courgette; Salt; Black pepper; 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil; 1 handful Basil; 150 g Green Beans; 250 g Savoy Cabbage; 400 g Borlotti Beans; 40 g Parmesan; 400 g Chopped Tomatoes; 1.5 l Water

Easy

Contains allergens

Cereales con glutenApio

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 75 min
Servings: 6

Summary

The great Italian vegetable soup: a slow soffritto, tomato, beans, courgette, green beans, cabbage and potato, with a handful of small pasta if you like. Finished with a drizzle of raw olive oil and Parmesan, and even better the next day.

Ingredients

6 servings

Add to Bring!

100 g Pasta (small shapes (ditalini, tubetti or similar)) (optional)
1 u Onion
2 cloves Garlic
2 u Carrot
2 u Celery (sticks)
2 u Potato (medium)
1 u Courgette
Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (freshly ground, to taste)
4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (plus a little more to serve)
1 handful Basil (fresh leaves)
150 g Green Beans
250 g Savoy Cabbage (or white cabbage)
400 g Borlotti Beans (cooked and drained, or cannellini (about 2 jars))
40 g Parmesan (grated, plus a piece of rind if you have one)
400 g Chopped Tomatoes (tinned)
1.5 l Water (or vegetable stock)

Instructions

Finely chop the onion, carrots and celery for the soffritto. Cut the potatoes and courgette into 1.5 cm dice, the green beans into 2 to 3 cm lengths and the cabbage into strips. Slice the garlic.
15 min
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-low heat and sweat the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt, stirring now and then, until soft and glossy but not coloured.
10 min
Add the garlic and, after a minute, the tomatoes. Cook until the liquid has gone, the tomato darkens slightly and starts to cling to the vegetables.
5 min
Add the potatoes, green beans, water and Parmesan rind. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered.
15 min
Mash a third of the beans with a fork and a little broth and add them to the pot with the rest of the beans, the courgette and the cabbage. Keep simmering until all the vegetables are tender.
15 min
If you are using pasta, add it now and cook for the time on the packet, stirring so it does not stick to the bottom. If the soup gets too thick, loosen it with a little hot water.
10 min
Remove the rind, taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, tear in the basil and leave to rest for a few minutes. Serve with a drizzle of raw olive oil and the grated Parmesan on top.
5 min

Notes

Minestrone means "big soup", and there is no single recipe: every region and every season brings its own vegetables. Summer calls for courgette, green beans and basil; winter for cabbage, cavolo nero or pumpkin. In Liguria each bowl is finished with a spoonful of pesto (which contains pine nuts and cheese). The Parmesan rind trick comes from kitchens that waste nothing: it gives the broth body and flavour and is fished out at the end. If you start with dried beans, soak them overnight, cook them separately until tender and use some of their cooking water in the soup. If you plan to keep it, cook the pasta separately and add it to each portion, because in the pot it swells and soaks up the broth. It keeps for 4 days in the fridge and freezes well without the pasta. For a vegetarian version, leave out the rind and serve with a hard cheese made with vegetarian rennet. A few drops of lemon in the bowl add a fresh note that is not traditional but works very well.