Il Minestrone

Name: Il Minestrone (Minestrone Soup)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 200 g/7 oz/1¾ cups short stubby pasta, such as cannolicchi or Ave Marie, or 200 g/7 oz/1 cup long grain rice; 1 potato, cubed; salt and ground black pepper; 30-45 ml/2-3 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve; 300 g/11 oz green vegetables, such as spinach, cabbage, Swiss chard, lettuce leaves or spring greens/collards, chopped; about 1 litre/1¾ pints/4 cups water or unsalted stock; 2 courgettes/zucchini, chopped; 200 g/7 oz fresh or dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight; 60 ml/4 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 carrot, chopped; 45 ml/3 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Minestrone Soup

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Italian Regional Cookbook

By Valentina Harris

Published 2017

About

This comforting, substantial soup is one of the great specialities of Lombardy. Made with a combination of vegetables and beans, it can be thickened with rice, pasta or semolina to turn it into the ‘big soup’. In summer it is served cold or at room temperature, and hot or cold it is delicious when finished off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a dusting of freshly grated Parmesan. If using dried borlotti beans, you will need to soak them overnight before you begin.