Minestrone Soup

 

 Minestrone soup is a rustic Florentine soup like Robolitta and Pasta Fagioli and it’s the very definition of warm and hearty. 

Previously I would add a dollop of homemade pesto to the soup but it made it richer without adding anything special to the flavor. Instead the acidity from a large can of diced tomatoes is the perfect foil for the mildness of the rest of the flavors in the soup. 

The vegetables used are mellow such as cauliflower, Savoy cabbage, spinach, carrots and celery. 

This is combined with the mélange of white beans such as cannelloni, navy, and  butter beans. You could also use chickpeas and fava beans but I prefer the softness in flavor of cannelloni, navy and butter beans.

The queen of this dish is the deep flavor of rosemary. Half the rosemary is stuffed into a bouquet garnii bag and dropped into the soup and the other half is ground in a mortar and pestle with olive oil to extract rosemary oil and then hand squeezed into the pot to finesse its deep essence.

This is not French onion soup with sticky, stringy cheese floating everywhere but to create the richness and earthiness of cheese I use Parmesan rind. The rind holds shape without melting away and provides the soup with a luxurious warmth.

Last but not least don’t dip just plain bread into the soup but a sour rye or a thick toasted tangy sourdough bread and use it to clean up the last drops of soup in the bowl.

Yes, winter is ending and spring is around the corner. This is probably the last time I will make minestrone soup until winter rolls around again. 

Bon Appetit! 

The  vegetables, one head of cauliflower, a bunch of carrots, 3 sticks of celery, 
half a head of savoy cabbage, 2-3 cups of spinach 

10 to 15 cloves of garlic, a bunch of Rosemary 

Three slabs of parmesan rind 

2 quarts of vegetable broth, 2-3 cans of white cannelloni beans, a large can of diced tomatoes 

Add broth, beans and canned diced tomatoes to large soup pot 

Sauté carrots, celery and add to pot 

Sauté cauliflower and add to pot 

Sauté diced savoy cabbage and add to pot 

Take half of the Rosemary and add to bouquet garnii bag 

The other half is ground in a mortar with pestle and olive oil to extract rosemary oil 

Crush the garlic with a garlic press

Cube the Parmesan rind. 

Add the bouquet garnii bag, crushed garlic and parmesan rind to the pot 

The spinach goes in last followed by the rosemary oil which is hand squeezed to extract every drop of rosemary essence  

Let the pot simmer for  30 min

Serve with a sour rye or toasted thick sourdough bread 

Bon Appetit!