Minestrone Classico
The garden in a pot
Classic Italian minestrone: soffritto, seasonal vegetables, cannellini beans and small pasta simmered into a thick, spoon-standing soup.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 25 min
- Serves
- 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery ribs, diced
- 2 zucchini and 1 cup green beans, chopped
- 1 potato, diced
- 1 14-oz can tomatoes
- 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup ditalini pasta
- Parmigiano rind, olive oil, salt
Instructions
- 01
Build the soffritto. Sweat onion, carrot and celery in olive oil for 12 minutes until sweet.
- 02
Layer the vegetables. Add the hard vegetables first, then the soft ones, cooking a few minutes between each.
- 03
Simmer with the rind. Add tomatoes, stock and a Parmigiano rind and simmer 40 minutes.
- 04
Pasta last. Add the beans and pasta and cook until just tender. Finish with olive oil off the heat.
Larry’s rule: Keep every Parmigiano rind in the freezer. That rind is the difference between soup and great soup.