The Big Soup
www.bbcgoodfood.com
On this lovely Monday morning, an Italian lesson from “Food Lover’s Companion”:
Minestra = “soup”
Minestrina = “little soup”
Minestrone = “big soup”
I’d eaten minestrone and loved it in the past, but not until this weekend had I made it myself. Saturday was cool and overcast, and I am getting over some chest crud, so it seemed the perfect day to make my first late summer/fall pot of soup. I dug up a recipe from reader Win Hunt that I’ve had for a while but hadn’t made.
This recipe is for slow cooker minestrone, but I altered it to be cooked on the stove top. My only problem was that I had a round steak, which can be pretty tough, so I browned and pressure cooked the steak chunks before putting them in the soup. Washing an extra pot was worth it for tender beef.
We loved this soup so much that we had it for dinner two nights in a row (and Howard had some for lunch yesterday). We’ll be eating it yet again tonight, probably with a grilled cheese sandwich. But it almost does not need any accompaniments, because it is so hearty and filled with different ingredients. In fact, this recipe called for so many different ingredients that I had to omit the green beans. The soup seemed too thick with all the other tasty veggies – cabbage, spinach, celery, onions, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, zucchini – to add anything else! It also has pasta in it, but just enough to enjoy one pasta shell with every other spoonful, which I loved.
Has anybody else made minestrone before? I read that there is no hard and fast recipe because it is the kind of dish you make when you have lots of vegetable odds and ends you want to use up. Next time, I will probably cut back on the garbanzo beans a little bit and add more spinach. Overall, however, I preferred this soup to traditional vegetable beef soup, perhaps because the chicken broth and white wine made it seem a little lighter despite all the hearty veggies.
To see the recipe I used (and to print it out if desired), click here.
September 13, 2010 - 10:50 AM
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Lindsey,
Glad you liked it! You can do the same sort thing on the stove top with any leftover veggies..my best soups are with leftover meats and whatever veggies I have in the fridge!
Win
This sounds like a great soup to have on a picnic in the fall with a bottle of wine and your sweatheart- oh wait-that’s where I first had it.
Lindsey, Win doesn’t always put all the veggies in either. Just don’t leave out the paremesan rind – that’s what makes it awesome.
Mary Sue (Win’s wife)
Oh, I forgot… I didn’t have the Parmesan rind so I left that out. If I had a tail, it would be between my legs right now. I did sprinkle grated Parm on top. If the soup is that delicious without the rind, I can only imagine how heavenly it would be with the rind.
I also liked the soup because it is so pretty with all the different colored ingredients!
My favorite minestrone is from the original “Vegetarian Epicure”. Really nice and hearty with Arborio rice instead of pasta. It makes it’s own stock with just water and the veggies. Served it last winter to some dyed-in-the-wool carnivores with an antipasta salad and homemade bread and they loved it!
I make soups like this in the fall, but I’ve found that kale holds up to the cooking a lot better than spinach does.
I always though minestrone was just veggies? This sort of one pot dish is my favorite part of fall/winter cooking.
I think they sell the parm rinds at Fresh Market.
Sounds so delish I may have to try. W/O the beef of course.
have you heard any news about a ‘crown fried chicken’ restaurant on the corner of melrose & orange (near the new fire station) ???
Well, one source described minestrone as a vegetable soup, and I always thought it did not include meat. But another source said there is no set recipe for minestrone and it sometimes contains meat, sometimes does not, but basically is a catch-all for leftover odds and ends. This soup would be wonderful without the beef, as well!
Anonymous, I had not heard anything about that restaurant, but thanks for the tip.
I made this recipe this weekend with some leftover Carne Asada beef. It’s a hearty stew! We could hardly wait til it was done and if tasted even better than it smelled. Luckily I had a Parmesan rind, adding it rocked! Great recipe.