The famous chef Giorgio Locatelli in his culinary bestseller "Made in Italy" describes the minestrone as "the best soup in the world." He calls it a dish uniting the nation, despite the fact that everyone cooks in his own way. The classic Italian cookbook, Silver Spoon, lists about 10 minestrone recipes. The versatility of this soup is that it generously takes any vegetables into its thick arms, if only they are seasonal.
Pick your recipe
You will need
-
- Base minestrone
- 100 g garden greens (dandelion leaves
- salads arugula and radicchio, etc.)
- 100 g spinach;
- 100 g of chard;
- 1/2 head of white cabbage;
- 2 large potatoes;
- 100 g cranberry beans;
- 200 g of fresh peas;
- 3 cherry tomatoes;
- 2 zucchini;
- 1 small onion head;
- 1 clove of garlic;
- 1 stalk of celery;
- a small bunch of parsley;
- 200 g of vermicelli;
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil:
- 2 liters of vegetable or chicken broth;
- grated parmesan.
- Pesto
- 6 glasses of basil leaves;
- 1 cup pine nuts;
- 1/2 cup olive oil;
- 1 cup fresh grated parmesan;
- 2 tablespoons of sweet butter;
- 2 cloves of garlic.
Instruction manual
1
Preheat the broth. Minestrone, translated from Italian, means big soup. This name is well-deserved, because the dish is always prepared from a large number of ingredients, but since they are all simple (there are no complex spices or a rich meat component), the taste of the dish largely depends on the basis on which you will lay the vegetables and pasta. Vegetarians prefer to use vegetable broth or water, chicken soup gives a spicy touch to the soup. The audience’s favorite, Jamie Oliver, cooks a “big soup” on a fragrant broth made of ham and smoked brisket, but many culinary specialists deny this approach, since they believe that the minestrone is a peasant soup and such a luxurious broth contradicts its spirit.
2
While the broth is warming up, thoroughly wash the vegetables, especially spinach and garden greens, trying to remove all traces of dirt and sand. Dry. Coarsely chop the spinach and chard (a type of beet). Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Chop cabbage with long and thin strips. Scald tomatoes, peel and cut into cubes. Peel the zucchini from the peeler and cut them into cubes as well. Grind onions, celery, parsley and garlic and fry them together in olive oil. Fry until onion is golden.
3
In a boiling broth or water, put the fried onions, garlic, parsley, celery and all other chopped vegetables. Add the peas and beans (cranberry beans or hacking beans - these are small white beans with red stripes, they boil quickly and do not need to be pre-soaked). Cook the soup for about an hour and a half.
4
Remove the potatoes from the soup with a slotted spoon, mash them with a fork or pulp and return them back. Sprinkle pasta. Cook the soup for a few more minutes until the pasta becomes al dente (soft, but with a solid center), remove from heat.
5
You have cooked the base minestrone. To make it a Ligurian minestrone, make a pesto. Slice the basil, crush it with cedar seeds, garlic, butter and parmesan in a blender. Put two or three tablespoons of pesto in the prepared soup, let it stand for 3-4 minutes and pour on plates. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and garnish with fresh basil leaves.
Useful advice
Remember that minestrone is a very democratic soup. If for the basics you lack one or two ingredients, but there are other seasonal soup vegetables, feel free to replace one with the other.
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