comforting minestrone soup

Minestrone soup.  Where to begin?  I have so much to say on minestrone and on soup alone.  I’m going to be doing a series on soup as the weather continues to cool.  For this reason, I’ll hold my thoughts on soup for later posts.

Back to minestrone.  Do you have a handful of recipes that you want to perfect?  Minestrone is on my short list.  In many ways, I feel like it’s the perfect soup.  It’s brothy, combining both tomato and chicken broth.  It typically has cannellini beans adding a creamy texture and filling ingredient.  It doesn’t have to be meatless – I typically add ground beef (or sausage) to my recipe.  It has vegetables and is best topped with Parmesan cheese and sourdough croutons.  I mean really, what more could you want in a soup?  It’s a meal.

I’m happy with the version of minestrone this recipe makes.  And yet, I feel like there is so much to learn.  I’ve heard people say that the measure of a chef is how well they can put together a soup.  There is a skill in soup making that I’d love to learn and to be honest, there aren’t many sources (at least that I’ve come across) that go deep into soup technique.  I’m not looking for recipes per say, but technique to pull together a soup that goes so far beyond the sum of the ingredients.  If ever given the opportunity to spend time with a professional chef, I’d ask about soup.  And in the meantime, as I come across minestrone recipes, I add them to the list of recipes to try.

Yield: 8 servings

Minestrone Soup

This is a classic minestrone recipe with a brothy tomato base, cannellini beans, ground meat, and vegetables. Be sure to top it with fresh croutons and Parmesan.

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Ingredients

Soup

• 2 medium red onions, finely chopped
• 3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 TBSP tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 28 ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes
• 1 quart hot water
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1-2 pieces of Parmesan rind
• 5 cups savoy cabbage, coarsely chopped
• 1 bunch of Italian (lacianto) Kale, stemmed and coarsely chopped
• 1 can (19-ounce) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 lb ground beef or ground sausage, cooked and drained

Toppings

• fresh croutons from a crusty loaf - oiled, salted, and cooked until a golden brown
• grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

First, cook the sofrito of onions, celery, and carrots in a large enamel coated Dutch oven or other large soup pot. Be sure to season well with salt and pepper. Start over medium heat and turn down to medium low, cooking and stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Once the sofrito has cooked down, add the garlic and cook until fragrant - 1-2 minutes. Next, push the vegetables to the outer edge and add the tomato paste to the bottom center of the pan and stir until it turns a dark brick red. You can incorporate into the vegetables and cook the mixture until a deep red. After this, add the wine and stir to combine. Cook until the wine is mostly reduced. Then add the tomatoes, crushing the whole pieces, and then the water and the stock. You can also add the cheese rind.

Simmer this together for at least 30 minutes - it can go longer if you need to.

Just before you're ready to serve, add the cabbage, kale, beans, and ground meat. Cook until the beans are warmed through and the cabbage and kale are tender - only 5-10 minutes. Top with croutons and Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Inspired by: Gourmet Special Edition: Comfort Winter 2016