Minestrone: A Primer

Many people think of minestrone as the kind of hearty fare best eaten in the cold weather months. It is wonderful in fall and winter, of course, but it can be enjoyed year-round. Its component ingredients change with the seasons, and it can be served hot in the winter, warm in the spring or autumn, and even ‘cold’ (ie, room temperature) in the summer.

Like so many other classic dishes, there are practically as many minestroni as they are minestrone cooks. But almost all minestrone recipes begin with three ‘base’ vegetables: onion, carrot and celery. You will notice that these are the same three vegetables that go into the most common type of soffrito, or flavor base, for countless Italian sauces, stews and soups. Only here you cut them into rather larger pieces so they retain their identity.

From there, it’s really up to you, but typically you add non leafy vegetables like squash, potatoes, tomatoes and/or green beans, and then leafy vegetables, typically chard or cabbage. I like to add each vegetable one at a time and let it simmer for a minute or two to absorb the aromatics—a process called insaporire in Italian—before adding the next vegetable. When you’ve added all the vegetables to the pot, you add enough water to cover and simmer until they’re tender. Finally, mix in precooked beans and let everything simmer together for another 10-15 minutes.

While it takes a little patience and basic knife skills, minestrone is a dish that’s well within reach of any reasonably capable home cook. And it’s so much better than anything you could buy! You can make a big batch ahead—it tastes better after an overnight rest—and enjoy it at your leisure.

Ingredients

For the flavor base:

• 1 large onion, cut into large dice
• 1-2 carrots, cut into large dice or slices
• 1-2 stalks of celery, cut into large dice
• 100g (3-1/2 oz) pancetta or other cured pork, cut into dice (optional)

Plus, one or more non leafy vegetables, trimmed and cut into pieces

• Pumpkin or other winter squash
• Zucchini
• Green beans
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes, peeled
• Leeks

One or more leafy vegetables:, cut into strips:

• Savoy cabbage
• Green cabbage
• Tuscan kale
• Swiss Chard
• Escarole
• Chicory

Plus one or more legumes:

• Cannellini or other white beans, boiled or canned
• Borlotti beans
• Cranberry beans
• Chickpeas
• Fava beans
• Peas

And:

• Enough water or broth to cover the vegetables
• A piece of parmigiano-reggiano rind, cut into dice (optional)

Directions

Step 1

You begin the minestrone with oil and/or butter in the bottom of a pot big enough to hold all your ingredients with room to spare. You want a generous amount of fat, for reasons that will become evident as you read on. Add the onions first, allow them to rosolare (saute) without browning while you chop the carrots, then add the chopped carrots while you chop the celery, then add the celery.

Add a healthy pinch of salt, which will keep the vegetables from browning and bring out their flavor. You will keep doing this until all your odori (aromatic vegetables) have had a chance to cook and absorb the flavors of the oil and preceding vegetables. If you like, you can also add some chopped pancetta to this base. It adds a lovely flavor.

Step 2:

After these base ingredients are all in the pot, starting adding non leafy vegetables in season. All kinds of squash, including pumpkin or butternut in the colder months, or zucchine in the warmer months, could go in at this point. Leeks, potatoes, tomatoes and string beans are also common additions.

Cut the vegetables into large-ish pieces and add them one by one to the pot, allowing each ingredient to be well coated with the oil and absorb the flavor of all the vegetables that have preceded it.

Step 3:

Now add the leafy vegetables, cut up into strips. Most common, especially in the cold weather months, is Savoy cabbage, but Tuscan kale, spinach, Swiss chard, escarole and chicory are also great additions.

Step 4:

Now add water (or broth) to cover, along with the rind if using, and bring to a gentle simmer.

Simmer for a good 45-60 minutes or more (most traditional recipes call for two hours of cooking), until all the vegetables are almost meltingly soft and the soup is getting quite thick.

This step can be sped up if you use a pressure cooker, in which case cook under pressure for about 15 minutes at high pressure, with a quick release.

Step 5:

Finally, add one or more legumes: cannellini beans, borlotti beans, cranberry beans, peas, baby lima beans, fava beans, (occasionally) chick peas, etc. Use canned, frozen or pre-cooked legumes. (If you are using fresh beans, then add them before you add the water.)

Cook for another 10-15 minutes or so, adding more water if the soup is getting too thick–but the soup should actually be quite thick, more of a stew than a soup. In fact, I like to purée some of the vegetables or just crush them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. These veggies melt into the soup, giving it a thick and creamy quality.

Ecco fatto! You can serve your minestrone immediately, but it is much better made ahead and served the next day, or at least after a few hours’ rest.

Serve hot, warm or room temperature as you prefer.

Notes

As we’ve seen, inestrone involves several steps and a fair amount of chopping. So do arm yourself with patience. But there are very few pitfalls. Mostly I’d be careful to regulate the heat. The vegetables should sauté gently—in culinary terms they should ‘sweat’—without browning at all. You’re looking to bring out their natural sweetness and to let them absorb the aromatic flavor base.

The soup should then simmer gently for as long as it take for the vegetables to become tender. And traditionally, they should be very tender, almost falling apart. As mentioned, two hours of simmering was common back in the day. I usually don’t go beyond 45 to 60 minutes, though. many contemporary recipes can call for a shorter simmer than that, so the vegetables retain more of their original color and texture. It’s a matter of taste. A short simmer produces a prettier, more photogenic minestrone. But to me there’s nothing like the taste and creamy texture of the traditional dish.

Finally, there’s the final texture. To me, a proper minestrone is always quite thick, not brothy at all. But again, tastes can vary. As can regional versions. Southern minestroni, as Angelina used to make, tends to be a bit brothier than, say, the ones you’d fiind in central Italy.

Choosing the vegetables

As mentioned, your choice of vegetables is almost infinite, according to your taste, what looks best at the market and the season. But there are a few vegetables you’d do best to avoid.

In particular, I’d avoid vegetables that have a very strong flavor that would overwhelm the others. These include peppers and most hard cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower. And, with one notable exception (see below), eggplant is not usually part of minestrone, either.

Adding pasta, rice or bread

You can add pasta, rice and even chunks of bread to your minestrone. Of course, pasta is more typically southern, while rice more typically northern. And bread is typically Tuscan.

I usually cook the rice or pasta separately before adding it to the pot at the last moment. I let it simmer in the soup a bit longer, but not too long, before serving. If you are making minestone ahead, don’t add the rice or pasta until you re-heat and serve. While you will find recipes where you add the pasta or rice directly to the soup (along with more water) I find this usually results in a rather stodgy end product.

Cured pork

Finally, while minestrone can be made totally vegetarian or vegan, it is often made with bits of cured pork. This could be either cut up pancetta, prosciutto or pre-cooked pork rind (cotenne) for deeper flavor. In a pinch you can use crumbled sausage meat.

Add the pancetta or sausage meat first to the oil, let it saute and then begin with the onion and proceed from there. Add the pork rind just before adding the water or broth.

Water or broth?

As indicated in the recipes, you can simmer your vegetables in either water or broth. Broth lends an even deeper flavor, but personally I find it makes the soup too ‘heavy’. The broth, I if you use it, should be a meat broth. In my opinion at least, vegetable broth would be rather redundant in a minestrone. In any event, I prefer to cook my minestrone with water to let the pure flavors of the vegetables sing.

My ‘secret’ ingredient

It’s actually not so secret, to be honest. Many home cooks do this. I save the rinds from leftover parmigiano-reggiano for use in many dishes, but most especially thick vegetable soups like minestrone. I cut a piece of rind into dice and add it to the pot. The rind softens as it cooks and lends a extra bit of umami to the dish. The rind is perfectly edible—quite tasty in fact—but if you prefer, you can add it in one piece and fish it out before you serve.

Toppings

You can use of variety of toppings to provide an extra flavor flourish to your minestrone. You can stir in grated parmesan before serving if you like, sprinkle it on top or serve it on the side.

Pesto sauce is wonderful, too. It’s a classic summer addition to minestrone. Either stir it in before serving, or add a dollop on top of each soup plate and let each diner mix it in to taste.

For a typically Tuscan touch, pour over un filo d’olio over your minestrone and a generous grating of black pepper just before serving.

Regional versions of minestrone

As I mentioned, there is an almost endless variety of minestroni, based on region, season, and/or personal preferences. Here are a few examples of regional versions of this classic soup:

(NB: Unless otherwise noted, always begin with a flavo base of onions, carrots and celery, then add the ingredients listed):

Minestrone alla milanese: pancetta, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, savoy cabbage, peas, borlotti or cannellini beans. (Some recipes call for green beans.) Typically includes rice.

Minestrone alla genovese: One version calls for pumpkin (or butternut squash), beans, dried peas, savoy cabbage, potatoes, green beans, erbette (substitute baby spinach outside Italy), tomatoes. Another, which we’ve featured in this post, calls for potatoes, borlotti, zucchine, bietole (swiss chard), savoy cabbage, spinach and (very unusually) eggplant. Serve with pesto, of course!

Minestrone alla livornese: fresh beans, spinach, prosciutto, savoy cabbage, a few swiss chard leaves, potato, zucchine, tomato sauce, pork rind (added just before the broth–not water).

Minestrone alla napoletana: garlic, zucchine, fresh beans, peas, generous amount of parsley and a lot tomato–the soup should have a definite red tinge. Neapolitan minestrone is soupier than other kinds of minestrone, so add much more water. (This is the kind of minestrone that non-Italians will probably be most familiar with.)

Minestrone alla pugliese: cabbage, green chicory, green beans, tomatoes, pork rind. Serve with short pasta (eg, ditali).

In Tuscany, they make a very special kind of minestrone—and perhaps my personal favorite—called ribollita. You make a batch of minestrone with cannellini beans, Tuscan kale, Savoy cabbage, potatoes, tomato, leek, swiss chard and, if you like, pancetta). You layer this in a casserole with Tuscan bread and, after a good rest, reheat the soup. (Hence the name, which means ‘re-boiled’ in Italian.) This may be my personal favorite version, although the genovese gives it quite a run for its money.

Making minestone ahead

As mentioned at the top, minestrone is best made ahead. It tastes much better after a rest, preferably overnight. It freezes well so you can always have some on hand for a last minute meal.