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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Classic Minestrone



Even though my mother is Italian, she never really made soup. I'm sure she felt soup was not a meal. And since she always wanted to feed us hearty, meaty,"stay-in-your-tummy-for-three-days" kind of meals, soup was never on the list.


I remember asking for tomato soup and grilled cheese, a meal that my friends seemed to thrive on, and she'd grudgingly buy a few cans of Campbells Tomato soup, every so often.


She also shook her head, mumbled in Italian, and frowned a lot while I ate it.
Needless to say, I haven't inherited any soup recipes from her.








Classic Minestrone Soup
{Recipe courtesy of  Sarah Carey, Everyday Food}


2T olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary, or 1/4 tsp. of dried
coarse salt, ground pepper
1 can (14.5 oz) whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1/4 head of Savoy cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans
1/2 pound of green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup of thinly sliced fresh basil
grated parmesan cheese




In a large pot, heat oil.
Add onion, celery, carrots, red pepper, and rosemary.
Add 1 and 1/2 tsp. coarse salt and 1/4 tsp. black pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions turn golden (about 8-10 min.)

Add tomatoes, cook until some of the liquid evaporates, about 1-2 minutes.

Add potato, cabbage, cannellini beans, and 7 cups of water;
bring to a boil.
Stir in green beans, and reduce heat to a simmer.
Cook until all the veggies are tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.
Add garlic (optional)

Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese and basil leaves.
Drizzle with more olive oil, if desired.

Serves 6

I added a cup of ditalini pasta during the last 10 minutes of simmering the soup.



I also like hearty meals, so I made a cheesy, turkey filled, bubbling panini. 
Life was very good last night.








2 comments:

  1. I make minestrone a lot - it is so full of fresh vegetables. Pannini I try to avoid because of the calories but that one looks so very good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That sandwich looks amazing....

    ReplyDelete