Minestrone

Equipment

• Heavy 4 L / 4 qt pot
• ladle
• knife

Before you begin

US cup = 240 ml; tablespoon = 15 ml; teaspoon = 5 ml. Use listed gram weights for consistency; weights are raw or dry unless described as cooked or drained.

• Use drained canned borlotti instead of cannellini beans; keep the same drained weight.

Make it work

• For make-ahead soup, cook pasta separately and add to each serving; pasta continues absorbing liquid in storage.

Ingredients

• 30 ml / about 2 Tbsp Olive oil
• 100 g / 3.5 oz Onion, finely diced
• 80 g / 2.8 oz Carrot, finely diced
• 60 g / 2.1 oz Celery, finely diced
• 2 cloves / 8 g / 0.3 oz Garlic, minced
• 1.2 L / 5.1 US cups Low-salt vegetable stock
• 4 g / about 5/8 tsp Salt
• 0.5 g / about 1/4 tsp Black pepper
• 240 g / 8.5 oz Canned cannellini beans, drained
• 250 g / 8.8 oz Potatoes, peeled, 1 cm cubes
• 200 g / 7.0 oz Zucchini, 1 cm cubes
• 150 g / 5.3 oz Green beans, 2 cm pieces
• 300 g / 10.6 oz Canned chopped tomatoes
• 80 g / 2.8 oz Small pasta, dry
• 100 g / 3.5 oz Spinach
• 30 g / 1.1 oz Parmesan for serving

Step-by-step method

1. Prepare all ingredients
   Cut vegetables to the sizes listed. Drain canned beans before weighing. Measure grains dry; wash leafy greens and drain them well. Keep ingredients for the finish aside.
2. Sweat the vegetables
   Heat oil in a heavy 4 L / 4 qt pot over medium-low heat. Cook onion, carrot and celery for 8 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add garlic for the last 30 seconds without browning it.
3. Build the soup
   Add tomatoes, potatoes, green beans and stock. Bring to a gentle simmer; cover partially and cook for 12 minutes.
4. Simmer to tenderness
   Add zucchini and beans; simmer 8 minutes. Add pasta and cook for its package time, usually 8-10 minutes, stirring often so it does not settle.
5. Finish the texture
   Stir in spinach for the final 2 minutes. If the soup is too thick, loosen with up to 150 ml / 5.1 US fl oz hot water. Divide Parmesan among the bowls.
6. Taste and portion
   Add the listed salt gradually, tasting because stock varies, then add pepper. Divide the complete soup into 4 bowls. If holding leftovers, transfer to shallow containers to cool promptly rather than leaving the pot on the stove.

Cook’s notes

For make-ahead soup, cook pasta separately and add to each serving; pasta continues absorbing liquid in storage.

Storage & reheating

• Refrigerate promptly in shallow containers at 4 C / 40 F or colder; use within 3 days. Reheat cooked leftovers to 74 C / 165 F. Refrigerate within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 32 C / 90 F.

Allergens

Contains: wheat, milk, celery. Check packaged ingredients.

Approximate nutrition

Per serving: 384 kcal · Protein 17 g · Carbohydrates 60 g · Fat 10 g.

Approximate per serving of the complete recipe. Brands, substitutions, cooking losses and portion sizes affect the figures.