Italian Minestrone

If, as has been claimed, one of the best things ever to come out of Italy is spaghetti in all its myriad variations, one of the finest uses for pasta is in the many wonderful soups and brodi of the Italian provinces. Delicate broths of chicken or beef – cappelletti in brodo (chicken stock studded with subtly flavoured ‘little monks’ caps’ of meat and herbs) and farfellini in brodo (beef stock with small pasta bows) vie with the thick fish soups of the coastal regions – zuppa di pesce alla romana (fish soup Roman style), burrido and cacciucco (squid, lobster, scallops and sliced fish, simmered in stock with olive oil and dry white wine) – for first place in our affections. But the most famous of them all, and certainly one of the ‘great dishes of the world’, is Italian minestrone.