Minestrone — the Vegetable Soup That Uses Up Half the Fridge
Yvonne Ammann VegetarianSweat onion, carrot and celery in olive oil for 10 minutes, add hard vegetables and stock, 15 minutes, soft vegetables, beans and tomatoes, 10 minutes, pasta for the last 8. Cooked with a Parmesan rind and served with a spoonful of pesto. Vegetables in the right order — otherwise some are mush and others raw.
Minestrone has no fixed recipe — it is whatever the fridge and the season offer, in stock with beans and pasta. The half leek, the two carrots, last week's courgette: all in. What sets it apart from vegetable mush are two things: the vegetables in the right order, and a Parmesan rind cooked in. Pumpkin in autumn, beans in summer, savoy cabbage in winter.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 piece Onion
- 2 pieces Carrots
- 2 pieces Celery sticks
- 2 pieces Garlic cloves
- 2 pieces Potatoes
- 1 piece Courgette
- 150 g Green beans
- 1 tin White beans (400 g, drained)
- 1 tin Tomatoes (chopped, 400 g)
- 1½ l Vegetable stock
- 1 piece Parmesan rind (optional)
- 100 g Small pasta (e.g. ditalini)
- 100 g Leaf spinach (optional)
- 1 tsp Salt
- Pepper
- 4 tbsp Pesto
- 50 g Parmesan (grated)
Method
- 1
Soffritto
Finely dice the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Sweat in the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat for 10 minutes without browning. This is the base — do not rush it.
- 2
Hard vegetables
Dice the potatoes, cut the beans into pieces. Add with the stock and Parmesan rind, bring to the boil and simmer 15 minutes.
- 3
Soft vegetables
Dice the courgette, add with the white beans and tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes.
- 4
Pasta
Add the pasta and simmer 8 minutes until al dente. Stir in the spinach for the last minute. Remove the Parmesan rind, salt, pepper.
- 5
Serve
Into bowls, a spoonful of pesto on each, Parmesan over, olive oil over. With bread.
Tips
- The order by cooking time: root vegetables and potatoes first (15 minutes), pumpkin and savoy (12), courgette, fennel, pepper (10), peas, spinach, chard leaves (2). About 1 kg vegetables in total to 1.5 litres stock.
- Never throw away Parmesan rinds — collect them in a bag in the freezer. One rind cooked in gives the soup more depth than any stock cube.
- For freezing leave out the pasta and cook it fresh when reheating — otherwise it turns mushy. Without pasta the soup keeps four days and freezes three months.
What can I substitute?
Cook rice 15 minutes, barley 40. Stale bread in pieces in the bowl — the Tuscan ribollita.
The gremolata version. Or simply good olive oil and Parmesan — pesto is a luxury, not a must.
Borlotti are the Italian original. Add lentils with the potatoes — 25 minutes.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from the ingredients.
Frequently asked questions
Which vegetables go in minestrone?
Whatever is there — that is the point. Only onion, carrot and celery as the base and beans are fixed. Then by season: courgette, beans, tomatoes in summer; pumpkin, leek, savoy, kale in winter; peas, asparagus, spinach in spring. Four to six kinds is ideal.
Why does my minestrone turn to mush?
All the vegetables went in at once, or the soup cooked too long. Hard vegetables first, soft later, leafy greens last. And the pasta only al dente — it keeps cooking in the hot soup.
Is minestrone a main course?
With beans, pasta, Parmesan and bread, yes — it is vegetables, protein and carbohydrates in one bowl. In Italy it is supper, not a starter. As a starter, half the portion without pasta.
How much does minestrone cost per person?
About 1.50 CHF per person for six portions — with leftover vegetables that would otherwise be thrown away, even less. It is the soup against food waste.
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