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Minestrone: A Primer

The basic recipe for making minestrone, the classic Italian vegetable soup for all seasons.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time2 hours
Course: Primo
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: simmered

Ingredients

For Step 1:

  • Olive oil and/or butter at least one cup total
  • 1 or 2 large onion chopped
  • 2 or more carrots chopped
  • 2 or more stalks of celery chopped
  • Salt to taste
  • A nice chunk of pancetta or other cured pork cut into cubes or lardons (optional)

For Step 2:

  • An assortment of non leafy seasonal vegetables of your choice such as potatoes, leeks, green beans, zucchini, pumpkin and tomatoes, chopped into pieces

For Step 3:

  • An assortment of leafy seasonal vegetables of your choice such as Savoy cabbage, escarole, chicory and spinach, cut into strips.

For Step 4:

  • Enough water or homemade broth to cover all the vegetables.

For Step 5:

  • One or more legumes of your choice such as cannellini beans, borlotti beans, cranberry beans, baby lima beans, fava beans and chickpeas.

Instructions

  • Add a generous amount of oil and/or butter in the bottom of a pot big enough to hold all your ingredients with room to spare. Add onions first, allow them to sauté 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 as you sauté.
    If you like, you can also add some chopped pancetta to this base. If so, add it first.
  • Add non leafy vegetables in season, 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.
  • Add leafy vegetables that you want to, cut up into strips, proceeding as for Step 2 above.
  • Add water (or broth) to cover, bring to a gentle simmer and allow to continue simmering for 45-60 minutes, or until all the vegetables are almost meltingly soft and the soup is getting quite thick.
  • Add one or more legumes, either pre-cooked or canned. Canned legumes should be drained and rinsed beforehand. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, adding more water if the soup is getting too thick. As they simmer, crush some of the vegetables against the side of the pot.
  • You can serve the soup immediately, but it is much better made ahead and served the next day, or at least after a few hours’ rest.