Minestrone

Minestrone

In Italian: minestrone, the augmentative form of minestra — soup. In other words, literally, “big soup.” In Hebrew it is written “מינסטרונה.” The name describes the idea precisely: this isn’t a fixed recipe but a method, meant from the start to use up what’s on hand — seasonal vegetables, a legume from the pantry, leftover pasta and a cheese rind with nothing else to do.

So there is no single “authentic minestrone”: in Liguria pesto is added, in Milan rice replaces the pasta, and in Tuscany stale bread goes in and it becomes ribollita. What is constant is the skeleton — soffritto, a legume, vegetables in three timing groups, and a small amount of carbohydrate at the end.

Prep time: 25 minutes · Cook time: 45 minutes · Total: about an hour and a quarter · Yield: 8 servings · Difficulty: easy

The three rules that turn a vegetable mix into minestrone

Soffritto is not optional. Finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, softened in olive oil for five to eight minutes before anything else goes in, are the foundation the whole soup stands on. A common ratio: two parts onion, one part carrot, one part celery.

Vegetables in three timing groups. Hard vegetables (potato, green beans, cabbage) go in first; soft vegetables (zucchini, tomato) in the middle; leafy greens and herbs at the end. Whoever puts everything in at once gets some vegetables mushy and some undercooked.

A Parmesan rind instead of soup powder. A hard Parmesan rind tossed into the pot releases glutamate and amino acids throughout cooking. It’s an old Italian home trick, and it gives exactly what soup powder tries to provide — without 800 mg of sodium per cup. Details on the instant soup page.

Ingredients (for 8 servings)

For the soffritto:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion (about 150 grams), finely chopped
• 2 carrots (about 150 grams), in small cubes
• 2 stalks celery (about 150 grams), in small cubes
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

Vegetables and legumes:

• 200 grams potato, cubed
• 200 grams white cabbage or kale, thinly sliced
• 150 grams green beans, cut into thirds
• 200 grams zucchini, cubed
• 400 grams canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 can white beans (cannellini or borlotti), drained and rinsed — about 250 grams after draining
• 1.5 liters vegetable broth or water
• 1 Parmesan rind, if you have one
• 2 bay leaves, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, black pepper
• Salt, at the end

To finish and serve:

• 120 grams small pasta — small tubes, small shells or broken spaghetti
• A bunch of basil or parsley, chopped
• 30 grams grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 grams per serving)

Choosing ingredients and substitutes

Ordinary canned white beans work even without an Italian variety name; you need 250 grams after draining. Frozen green beans replace fresh in the same weight. For the pasta use 120 grams of small tubes, small shells or broken spaghetti and cook according to the package. The Parmesan rind is optional; if you use it, it should be the cheese’s natural rind, with no wax or packaging.

Method

1. Make the soffritto. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and fry the onion, carrot and celery for 8 minutes over medium heat, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for a minute.
2. Add the hard vegetables. Add the potato, cabbage and green beans and stir in the oil for 2-3 minutes, so they absorb flavor before the liquid goes in.
3. Add liquid. Add the crushed tomatoes, the broth, the bay leaves, the oregano, the pepper and the Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil and lower to a low flame.
4. Cook for 25 minutes in a partly covered pot.
5. Add the soft vegetables and the beans. Add the zucchini and the drained white beans and cook another 10 minutes. Canned beans are already cooked, and long cooking will break them down.
6. Cook the pasta separately. Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente, drain and add to the bowls when serving. This is the step that decides whether there will be good leftovers: pasta cooked in the soup absorbs liquid and keeps swelling in the fridge, and by the second day the soup is no longer soup. If you plan to finish the pot the same day, you can cook it directly in the soup for the last 8-10 minutes.
7. Salt at the end, remove the bay leaves and the cheese rind, and add the chopped basil off the heat.
8. Serve with a spoonful of grated Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.

Nutrition facts and calorie estimate

The recommended serving is a bowl of about 350 ml, one-eighth of the pot, including pasta and a spoonful of Parmesan.

Minestrone is one of the most balanced soups in the category, and that comes from its structure rather than intention: the legume provides protein and fiber, a small amount of pasta provides carbohydrate, and a kilo and a half of vegetables provide a large volume for few calories. The three tablespoons of olive oil are about 45 calories per serving — the most calorie-dense ingredient in the pot, and at the same time what enables absorption of the lycopene from the tomatoes and the carotenoids from the carrots.

Combining a legume and pasta in the same bowl isn’t accidental nutritionally either: legumes are low in methionine and rich in lysine, and grains are exactly the opposite — together they complete an amino acid profile neither provides on its own. The same principle is behind harira and ash reshteh.

What you add in the bowl:

Variations and tips

• Minestrone alla genovese: A spoonful of pesto stirred into the bowl when serving (not into the hot pot, which kills the basil aroma). Adds about 90 calories per serving.
• Tuscan ribollita: No pasta, with 100 grams of stale country bread crumbled into the soup and kale. The soup becomes very thick, and this is the version meant from the start for reheating (ribollita means “reboiled”).
• Vegan version: Leave out the Parmesan and the rind, and add a teaspoon of miso or 10 grams of dried mushrooms for umami. Drops by about 15 calories per serving.
• Dried beans instead of canned: 120 grams of dried beans soaked overnight, added at the start of cooking. Saves sodium, adds 20-30 minutes of cooking, and the nutritional value is almost identical.
• Making ahead: 5 days in the fridge, 3 months frozen — always without the pasta. The soup improves a lot on the second day.

Summary

Minestrone isn’t a recipe but a method: soffritto, a legume, vegetables in order of hardness, and a little carbohydrate at the end. About 210 calories per bowl with 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber make it one of the few soups here that is a whole meal. For more soups see Soups, and for the nutritional values of the vegetables themselves — nutritional pros and cons.