Minestrone Soup

Submitted by recipebob on October 3, 2009 - 7:00pm
minestrone soup

Summary

Yield
Prep Time1 hour
CategorySoups
CuisineItalian

Description

Noting is more satisfying on a brisk winter day than a bowl of hearty minestrone soup. Minestrone roughly means "the big soup" in Italian, refering to a vegetable style soup with many ingredients. There is no one correct way to make minestrone, but just be sure to include lots of vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 10 cups vegetable or chicken stock
  • 1 1/2 cups tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 1/2 cup brown onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup zucchini, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups dried cannellini or great northern beans
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 sprig fresh basil
  • 1 sprig fresh oregano
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

Soak the cannellini beans overnight in cold water. Drain the beans, rinse, and place them in a large stockpot. Add 6 cups of broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook gently for about 1 hour.

Finely chop the fresh herbs. Add 4 more cups of broth. Add the vegetables, garlic, fresh herbs, dried herbs, salt and pepper to the stock. Bring back up to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.

Remove bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Beans will absorb a great deal of liquid while cooking. Add more broth or water to replace lost liquid if needed, or the beans will stick.

This hearty soup is a meal in itself. Serve with crusty bread.

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