Minestrone: not just a plain soup

Minestrone is for us that kind of dish that if our moms would know that these days we are not only eating it but we are actually even writing a post about it, they will probably grab a wooden spoon and make us feel child again! It is one of that dish that when you are a kid you never want. The smell of it in the kitchen makes you feel sick. However, we grew up, our taste changed and

we appreciate now food we weren’t use to like.

Minestrone as the base of the Mediterranean diet

Minestrone has origin back to the romans, who were use to cook a mix of seasonal vegetables in boiling water. Mediterranean diet is based on a consume of seasonal products and focused on a zero-waste mentality, and Minestrone perfectly respect these characteristics and you will be able to use all the seasonal vegetables you have around and also the one that are not more so fresh.

To the vegetables can be added also grains such as barley or rice; or beans, dry or fresh; and you can keep it vegetarian or add some meat as well.

In conclusion, the Minestrone is such a versatile soup that can easily please different type of palate ( reading this my mom is probably going mad at me!)

Minestrone: not just a plain soup

The first idea we think when talking about minestrone is a kind of punishment-soup. A sort of cleaning-diet-soup as remedy to a not proper dietary routine.

Now, you can look at it in this way and actually make what we call a “sciacquapanza” (guts cleaner), something tasteless, miserable, that makes you feel sad only at the idea you have to eat it; or, you can make it tasty and delicious!

Ingredients: 

[ 4ppl] [prep time: 30 min] [cooking time: 40min]

2 garlic cloves
2 onion
2 leek (white part only)
3 carrots
3 celery stalk
3 potatoes
3 broccoli
100gr of green beans
200gr of beans
200gr of tomatoes (pleati)
5 silverbeet leaves
5 kale leaves
fresh parsley,basil
dry sage, bayleaf, thyme, oregano
fresh chilli
salt and pepper

(Those are the ingredients that we had, the one in season now, but you can change with other ingredients if they are in season when you read this recipe)

You can prepare the vegetables the night before so you can use all the waste and leftover from the cuts for making a nice veggie stock you will need for the minestrone.

1. finely chop: garlic, onion, leek;
2. cut in cube (1cmx1cm) celery, carrot, potatoes;

   

   

   Minestrone: brocoli, green beans
3. clean the broccoli and use just the top soft part;
4. clean the green beans and cut them in three o four part;
5. slice the kale and the silverbeet leaves;
   
   

   Minestrone: Kale

   

6. start prepare you veggie stock (you can use the veggie waste or a stock cube. In the first case you will have zero waste, which is always good!)
   
   

   Minestrone: soffritto
7. when the broth is ready, in a tall pot with thick bottom add some olive oil and make a soffritto with garlic, onion, leek and fresh chilli (if you want you can substitute the olive oil with some lard or pork fat) sage, and bayleaf;
8. add some stock to softer the soffritto;
9. add celery, carrots, and potatoes, and stir it all for few minutes;

   

   

   Minestrone
10. add the broccoli and the green beens;
11. add the tomatoes, the beens and start to cover everything with the stock;

    

12. add the kale and silverbeet;
    
    

    Minestrone
13. adjust with salt and pepper and add the rest of the dry herbs you want to use
14. lid on and let it simmer for 35 min or until the veggies are soft
15. serve it hot, warm or even cold fresh basil and parsley on top and if you like it you can add some parmigiano cheese on top
    
    

    Minestrone
    
    

Buon appetito!

Sorry, we have to run our mums find out of this post!!