Minestrone

Name: Minestrone
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2 medium-sized fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 200 g (7 oz) tin of tomatoes, without the juice; 50 g (2 oz) uncooked rice or macaroni, spaghetti or some other pasta, broken into small pieces; or you can use both rice and pasta; 225 g (½ lb) fresh kidney or borlotti beans (tinned or frozen are fine); 1.2 litres (2 pints) good beef stock; 50 g (2 oz) bacon or salt pork, cut into 2.5cm (1 inch) pieces; sprig of sage; salt and pepper; freshly grated parmesan, to serve; 100 g (3½ oz) fresh spinach, stems removed and the leaves shredded; 1 celery stalk, scraped and diced; 225 g (½ lb) peas (again, tinned or frozen are fine); 100 g (3½ oz) young cabbage, shredded; 1 small onion, thinly sliced

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Potty!

By Clarissa Dickson Wright

Published 2010

About

I am told by my Italian friends that Minestrone simply means ‘soup’ and that it varies from province to city to town. The one I particularly like is the Milanese version, which is made with lots of fresh, young vegetables and can be served hot or cold. It should be thick with vegetables.

Ingredients

1.2 litres (2 pints) good beef stock
50 g (2

Europe
Italy
Milan
Soup
Mediterranean

Method

Bring the stock to the boil. Add all the ingredients, except the spinach, which can be added at the very end, and simmer as gently as possible until the vegetables are tender and have absorbed nearly all the stock. Taste for seasoning and add some more beef stock to make the soup the consistency you like. Serve in heated soup plates and scatter grated Parmesan cheese on top.