Rethinking Minestrone
While even a mediocre minestrone is a comforting meal on a cold winter day, there’s nothing like a superb version of this great Italian classic to really satisfy the soul.
Making a great minestrone calls for more technique and attention than simply throwing together a bunch of vegetables and broth into a soup pot. Here are important tips for getting your minestrone just right. Some of them are from my own testing and others, admittedly, come from the kitchens of other good home cooks.
1.) Use the freshest vegetables you can find.
2.) Add chopped bacon to the pot and use the rendered fat to saute the vegetables.
3.) Toss rinds of Parmesan cheese into the simmering soup. Sounds bizarre, but they add an imitable creaminess.
4.) In a pinch, you can use canned beans, but dried cannellini beans, first soak or par-boiled to soften, are a much better choice.
5.) Use homemade chicken stock as the soup’s base; if you only have store-bought stock, you can boost its insipid flavor by simmering a couple of carrots, a stalk of celery, a small onion and a few chicken bones in the stock; then strain and use this enriched broth to make your soup.
6.) First caramelize the vegetables in the bacon fat, then remove them from the pot and separately simmer the beans in the stock until nearly tender. Cooking the veggies and beans separately, preserves the flavor of the vegetables.
7.) Add aromatic herbs both to the simmering soup before it’s done cooking and at the end of the cooking process, as a flavorful garnish.
8.) Always serve with the finest, freshly grated Parmesan you can buy.
9.) Francisco J. Robert, offers a recipe for Minestrone in the Cook’s Illustrated magazine “Soups and Stews,” claiming that the secret to making a great minestrone, in part, is to use V-8 instead of canned or fresh tomatoes. After testing his recipe I have to agree; V-8 adds a distinctive vegetable brightness. See if you think so too. Here’s his recipe with a couple of my own minor modifications.
1/2 pound (about 1-1/3 cups) dried cannellini beans, picked over and rinsed
1 tablespoon salt
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Half a head small green cabbage, halved, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (2 packed cups)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
5 to 6 cups water, as necessary
3 cups homemade chicken broth (or see tip 5 above)
1 bay leaf
2 cups V8 juice
1 rind Parmesan cheese, about 3 x 3 inches and 1/4-inch thick
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese for serving
One baguette, sliced
1.) Combine the beans, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 quarts water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from the heat, cover, and let stand about 1 hour. Drain beans and rinse under running cold water.
2.) Cook the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, about 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned and some of the fat is rendered, stirring occasionally. Add the olive oil, celery, onion, carrot and zucchini and cook about 9 minutes or until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned, stirring often.
3.) Stir in the cabbage, 2 tablespoons of the basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes, and cook until the cabbage starts to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl and set them aside.
4.) Add the soaked and drained beans, 5 cups of water, chicken broth, Parmesan cheese rind, and bay leaf to the pot, and raise the heat to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
5.) Add the reserved vegetables and the V8 to the pot and cook about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. If the soup seems a little too thick, add as much of the remaining 1 cup water as necessary to increase the liquid.
6.) Discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind; taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper, as desired.
7.) Garnish each serving with some of the remaining chopped basil and a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with baguette slices.
Serves 4 to 5
Now that you’ve got the recipe, get busy and make yourself a pot!
