Grandmom Gennaro’s Minestre

My grandmother always had a pot of minestrone soup—or minestre, as my family called it—on the stove. Like most of what my grandmother cooked, there was no recipe, just a little of this and some of that—and it was always delicious. I still make this long-cooking, full-flavored vegetable soup, only I use a slow cooker to get that rich flavor. Variations could include fresh or grilled corn during the summer, or perhaps a diced potato in fall and winter.

Note that the amount of v