Minestrone Soup!!

zoey

Sorry guys if this has been done before but have any of you a recipie for Minestrone soup?
Had sone today for the first time in ages and would love to try making my own:)
Thanks in advance x

The Hill Billy

I had an interesting conversation with an Italian mate of mine about Minestrone. I was particularly interested in whether there was a definitive recipe for it. The answer was a resounding "No!". Apparently it is made with whatever you have to hand in your kitchen.

For what it is worth, if I was making it I'd do something along the following lines...

Finely dice 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery & a medium onion & sweat in some olive oil with a couple of finely sliced cloves of garlic & maybe a chopped up rasher (if you have one).
Add a couple of twigs of thyme & a bay leaf. Maybe a bit of rosemary or oregano?
Then add some very ripe tomatoes. Hard to get at this time of the year, so maybe a tin or two of plum tomatoes.
Top up with chicken or vegetable stock & bring up to a simmer.
Add some small pasta shapes or broken up spaghetti or vermicelli around 15 minutes before you serve.

Serve with a good grating of parmesan on top & some crusty bread or bruscetta.

Other veg that you could add would be finely chopped cabbage or kale leaves, courgette, beans (haricot/canellini), mushrooms, brocolli, asparagus, whatever else you have to hand really...

the beer revolu

Hill Billy wrote: »

I had an interesting conversation with an Italian mate of mine about Minestrone. I was particularly interested in whether there was a definitive recipe for it. The answer was a resounding "No!". Apparently it is made with whatever you have to hand in your kitchen.

For what it is worth, if I was making it I'd do something along the following lines...

Finely dice 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery & a medium onion & sweat in some olive oil with a couple of finely sliced cloves of garlic & maybe a chopped up rasher (if you have one).
Add a couple of twigs of thyme & a bay leaf. Maybe a bit of rosemary or oregano?
Then add some very ripe tomatoes. Hard to get at this time of the year, so maybe a tin or two of plum tomatoes.
Top up with chicken or vegetable stock & bring up to a simmer.
Add some small pasta shapes or broken up spaghetti or vermicelli around 15 minutes before you serve.

Serve with a good grating of parmesan on top & some crusty bread or bruscetta.

Other veg that you could add would be finely chopped cabbage or kale leaves, courgette, beans (haricot/canellini), mushrooms, brocolli, asparagus, whatever else you have to hand really...

That's pretty much exactly how I'd make it too.
The bacon is vital in my mind though!
Tinned tomatoes will make a very different soup to fresh. I prefer fresh but minestrone as most people know it would probably have tinned.

zoey

Thanks a million guys, will hopefully get a chance to try it out tomorrow!

Dizzyblonde

I made it today for lunch and it was gorgeous
Thanks Hill Billy.

daigo75

Hi all,
I join this old post because Minestrone (with capital "M" is one of my all times favorite). My recipe contains only vegetables, but it's really good and simple.

Notes: you'll need a big pot (possibly a terracotta one) and as much time as you can. Minestrone is best cooked very slowly, so it can take some hours to be ready.

Finely dice 2 sticks of celery and a medium onion. Sweat in some olive oil with a couple of finely sliced cloves of garlic.

Add the following vegetables (if using dried beans/chickpeas, put them in water the day before).

- 2 carrots, cut in round slices (not too thin).
- Strips of cabbage. Even the outer leaves, which are normally though, can be used, as they will become soft.
- Chickpeas.
- Borlotti beans (if you don't have Borlotti, you can use kidney beans or pinto beans).
- Lentils.
- Green beans (fresh or frozen).
- Peas (fresh or frozen).
- Spinach (fresh or frozen).
- A handful of mushrooms, better if Porcini.
- One or two medium potatoes, cubed.
- One leek, cut in round slices.
- One big courgette, cut in round slices.
- Some tomato concentrate, or some peeled tomatoes (I personally don't like the skin).
- OPTIONAL: some mixed herbs and some freshly ground black pepper (not too much).

Vegetables should be generously covered by water to ensure they will cook properly.

Where quantity is not specified, you could put one or two handfuls. It really depend on your taste, but normally with one or two handful of each you already end up with a good amount of Minestrone (which, in my case, rarely lasts more than one day anyway).

As previously mentioned, cook covered at very low heat. It should barely simmer, not boil. Keep an eye on it and add water if needed. From time to time, give it a stir to ensure that all the vegetables cook evenly.

When the Minestrone is almost ready (take a spoon of it and check the texture of the vegetables), add some basil.

If you want to obtain a perfect result, you should add vegetables in order of toughness, so the hardest ones will cook longer. It takes practice, however, so I normally just put them in the water one after the other, preparing the next while the previous is already in the pot.

If you don't like big chunks, before serving it you can quickly blend it. You'll obtain a nice creamy texture, without using cream (which makes it fairly light).

Optionally, when serving it, you can add parmesan as a topping, or also some good extra virgin olive oil. Croutons go very well with it.

rocknchef

up in Northen Italy they use beans instead of pasta and they dont use tomatoes its more like a veg broth. I have even had a version with cabbage

daigo75

rocknchef wrote: »

up in Northen Italy they use beans instead of pasta and they dont use tomatoes its more like a veg broth. I have even had a version with cabbage

I confirm, I am from Northern Italy.
However, in my family we add pasta as well, and tomato to give more "color".

The Sweeper

Delia Smith has a Minestrone recipe that my mom used to make for us when I was little. Every time I see mention of Minestrone I have a craving for that particular recipe. Must have a look on her website, see is it listed...

Yes it is!

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/minestrone-with-macaroni,1126,RC.html