Minestrone

Name: Minestrone
Total time: 2 h 45 min
Yield: 6 - 8 servings
Cuisine: italian
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups dried cannellini beans; 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped; 1 clove garlic, minced; 2 leeks, sliced; 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 stalks celery, sliced; 1/2 pound baby carrots, cut in half; 1/2 pound small zucchini, cut in 1-inch pieces; 1/2 pound string beans, cut in 1-inch pieces; 1 large potato, peeled and diced; 1 cup Italian tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (fresh or canned); 8 cups chicken stock; Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste; 4 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped; Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to garnish

By Moira Hodgson

Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Rating: 4(223)
Comments: Read comments

One of my favorite dishes, which is hard to find properly made in Italian restaurants, is a good minestrone. This hardy vegetable soup is especially delicious poured on top of a mound of steamed Swiss chard or kale, and garnished with a green extra virgin Tuscan olive oil and freshly grated Parmesan. If you have any leftover rinds of Parmesan cheese, they can be cooked in the soup and will give it flavor. Serve the soup with toasted Italian bread spread with olive oil and rubbed with crushed garlic.

Featured in: FOOD; HEARTY SOUPS

or to save this recipe.
Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
Subscribe
Share
Print Options
Include recipe photo

Ingredients

Yield:6 - 8 servings

1½cups dried cannellini beans
1medium onion, coarsely chopped
1clove garlic, minced
2leeks, sliced
4tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2stalks celery, sliced
½pound baby carrots, cut in half
½pound small zucchini, cut in 1-inch pieces
½pound string beans, cut in 1-inch pieces
1large potato, peeled and diced
1cup Italian tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (fresh or canned)
8cups chicken stock
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
4tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese to garnish

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

Step 1
Soak the beans overnight in water to cover. Discard the water. Add fresh water to cover and simmer until the beans are soft, about 30 to 45 minutes. Allow them to cool in their water.
Step 2
In a large, heavy casserole, soften the onion, garlic and leeks in the olive oil. Add the celery, carrots, zucchini, string beans and potato and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the tomatoes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock to a boil in a separate pan. Add to the soup ingredients and simmer gently for 1½ hours covered. The soup should be thick, not watery. If it is too watery, uncover and cook until thickened.
Step 4
Add the beans and cook for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 5
Before serving, sprinkle the soup with parsley. Serve with a small jug of extra virgin olive oil on the side and a bowl of grated Parmesan cheese. The oil and the cheese are added separately.

Ratings

4 out of 5

223 user ratings

Have you cooked this?

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

MM7 years ago

FYI, NYT iOS Cooking App still shows old receipe with missing ingredients.

Maxine7 years ago

The failure to list two important ingredients - tomatoes and broth - is not even the worst error of this recipe. As we are all experienced cooks here, I assume we all figured that out and carried on without a blink. There seems to be not even a grain of salt to season the soup until it is completely cooked. In my humble opinion, the vegetables should be seasoned prior to adding the tomatoes and broth, while they are cooking. This will enhance their flavors and make the soup more vibrant.

Passion for Peaches7 years ago

I make minestrone often (Marcella Hazon's recipe, tweaked). There's no need to start with fresh green beans for a soup that cooks this long. Save time and buy a bag of frozen, cut beans. "Baby carrots" are just regular carrots machine-shaved into a uniform size: buy whole carrots and get more nutrition for your money. An alternative to searving over greens is to stir a chiffonade of greens into the soup in the last 20 minutes.

The leeks are an interesting idea!

Addie2 years ago

Rave reviews by my soup eaters for this Minestrone. I made the recipe as written except I had a dried bean re-hydration failure and had to substitute canned beans at the last minute. Two 15 oz cans of cannellini beans, drained and well rinsed seemed to be the right amount of beanyness, though a Google search suggested that each can was equivalent to about 1/2 cup dried. (Note, canned beans can be saltier than dried, so hold off on salting your soup until after adding the canned beans.)

Tom3 years ago

Made this with vegetarian fake chicken broth for my vegetarian son and his vegan friends and it was a big hit! I followed the recipe otherwise.

Patricia4 years ago

Simmering this soup for an hour and a half is much too long. The vegetables are virtually cooked when the broth is added. I agree with fellow commenters that the vegetables should be seasoned as you go along and a parmesan rind adds a deep flavor. I added some bacon at the beginning for a little more body and flavor, reducing the olive oil. It's a nice, comforting soup.

Private comments are only visible to you.