Name: Menestron (Minestrone, Genoese-Style)
Yield: Makes 4 to 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: A few leaves of borage or spinach, washed; 2 leeks, washed, chopped into chunks; 1 stalk celery, washed, chopped into little bits; 2 carrots, washed, peeled, coarsely chopped; 1 tablespoon/15 ml nut-free pesto per bowl of soup; 6 ounces/⅔ cup/170 ml Ligurian extravirgin olive oil; 1 sprig fresh Italian (flat) parsley, torn into pieces; 2 tablespoons/15 g freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 3½ ounces/100 g fresh borlotti or red kidney beans; 2 medium zucchini, washed, chopped into bite-size pieces; 2 medium potatoes, washed, peeled, coarsely chopped; 2 to 2½ quarts/2 to 2½ liters cold water; 3½ ounces/100 g pumpkin or yellow squash; 3½ ounces/100 g raw cauliflower; 2 ounces/50 g thin string beans; 2 plum tomatoes, peeled and seeded, chopped into chunks; 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped; 1 pinch coarse sea salt; 1 clove garlic, with the green heart removed, chopped into bits; 5 ounces/150 g dried pasta, broken into little pieces; 1 baby eggplant, washed, chopped into bite-size pieces; Crust of wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano (if available); ½ cup/60 g fresh peas; ½ cup/60 g fresh fava beans

Preparation info

Makes
4 to 6
servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Recipes from Paradise

By Fred Plotkin

Published 1997

About

The word minestrone means “big soup” and certainly this one is. When most North Americans think of minestrone, it is closer to the vegetable soup popular in Milan, in which one can still readily recognize the different ingredients. By contrast, Ligurian minestrone (menestron in dialect) cooks gently until the ingredients come apart. This is a more homogeneous vegetable soup, but one that is complex in subtle flavors. Ligurian minestrone is always finished with a spoonful of pe