Minestrone is one of my faves and this recipe from wonderful cookbook called The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is absolutely fabulous. It was such a wonderful use of my Jersey Fresh veggies. I particularly love that it calls for fresh cherry tomatoes. The taste is so fresh!
A couple of deviations from the recipe for me included:
1. I seasoned each layer of veg as I added them to the pot. The recipe says to season all at once towards the end.
2. I drained and rinsed my beans.
3. I cooked the ditalini pasta separately and then added the cooked pasta into the soup pot.
4. I froze half of the soup mixture BEFORE adding the ditalini. It is best to freeze soup without the pasta.
In addition, and the author suggests this as well, feel free to add or omit whatever veg you desire. During this round, I did not have string beans so I just upped the peas.
30-Minute Minestrone
Course: SoupsCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy6-8
servings30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced (about 1 cup)
2 stalks celery, finely diced (about 1 cup)
4 medium cloves garlic, minced or grated on a Microplane (about 4 tsp.)
6 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken stock
1 cup diced canned tomatoes with their juice
One 15-ounce can Roman (borlotti or cranberry) cannelini or great northern beans, with their liquid (Please note: The Jersey Girl drains and rinses her beans despite the recipe’s instructions)
2 bay leaves
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch cubes or 1/2-inch half moons (about 3/4 cup)
1 small summer squash, cut into 1/2-inch cubes or 1/2-inch half-moons (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup green beans cut into 1/2-inch segments
2 cups roughly chopped curly spinach or kale (Please note: The Jersey Girl uses baby spinach)
1 cup small pasta, such as shells, ditalini or elbows
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic, and cook, stirring, until softened but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes and beans, with their liquid, and the bay leaves and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a bare simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, adding the zucchini, squash, green beans and spinach for the last 10 minutes, and the pasta for last 5 or 10 minutes (depending on the package instructions.) Please note: The Jersey Girl seasons with salt and pepper while adding each round of ingredients. She does not add the bean liquid to the soup. She cooks her ditalini pasta separately in a small pot filled with salted water. Once the pasta is cooked, she adds it to the simmering soup. She also set aside half of the soup before adding the pasta so that it could be frozen for later use.
- Season the salt to taste with salt and pepper. Discard the bay leaves, add the peas, cherry tomatoes and basil, and stir until the peas are thawed. Serve, drizzling each serving with olive oil. Please note: The Jersey Girl also serves with grated parmesan cheese.
