Classic minestrone loaded with farm fresh vegetables is hearty enough to be a meal on its own or pair it with your favorite sandwich for an easy dinner.
I aspire to be that person who cooks through their weekly CSA share, prepping, freezing, using every scrap. You know, a veggie goddess, or demi-goddess at least. But the ideas in my head don’t quite match the number of hours in a day, so I sometimes open the fridge to an avalanche of veggies (I’m not joking. they literally fall out of the fridge…). So when that happens, we soup. Yep, it is actually a verb in this case. As a former English major, I reserve the right to make it a verb. I soup in all kinds of ways: corn chowder, tomato, squash, broccoli cheddar. The list goes on. And when the avalanche has too many veggies to count: minestrone.
Minestrone is kind of like a potluck for soup. Almost any veggie can work in minestrone. In this case, I had summer squash, cabbage, and green beans begging to be used. But zucchini, kale, spinach, fresh tomatoes, and countless others could work as well. I make a BIG pot, eat some, freeze some. When it’s January and snowing, that reminder of my beloved CSA will add a little extra warmth to the soup.
Bottom line, don’t waste those veggies. Learn how to soup 🙂
- 1¼ cups dried white beans
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 4 oz. chopped pancetta
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 yellow squash or zucchini, cut into ½-inch chinks
- ½ small green cabbage, thinly sliced
- ¼ pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 Parmesan rind
- ½ tsp. smoked Spanish paprika
- ¼ tsp. oregano
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish
- Put beans in a bowl or large measuring cup and cover with cold water. Let soak overnight. Drain.
- Transfer to a saucepan and add water to cover the beans by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 50 minutes, adding more water if needed to keep the beans covered. Add ½ teaspoon salt and simmer about 5 minutes more. Test for doneness. If beans are still hard, continue cooking. Once cooked through, remove from heat and let stand.
- In a large pot, heat the oil. Add the pancetta and cook until fat is rendered. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Add the yellow squash, green beans and cabbage and stir. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, Parmesan rind, oregano and paprika and stir. Bring to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Discard Parmesan rind.
- Meanwhile drain the beans, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid. Stir ¾ of the beans into the soup. Combine remaining beans and reserved cooking liquid in a blender and puree. Stir puree into soup.
- Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with grated Parmesan.
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