Winterminestrone Recipes

WINTER MINESTRONE AND GARLIC BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. The soup should be quite thick but if it's too thick, I add more chicken stock.
• Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach, and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad). Cook just until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the white wine and pesto. Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste. Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top. Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the baguette at a 45 degree angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.

WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a large, heavy stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, pancetta, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and potato. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and rosemary sprigs. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes are very soft, about 10 minutes.
• In a food processor or blender, combine 3/4 of the beans with 1/2 cup of broth. Blend until almost smooth. Add the pureed bean mixture, remaining broth, and Parmesan rind to the vegetable mixture. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potato pieces are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the remaining beans and the parsley. Simmer until the beans are heated through and the soup is thick, about 2 minutes. Discard the rosemary stems (the leaves will have fallen off) and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

THE BEST MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the meat is golden brown on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the pancetta with a slotted spoon to a large bowl, leaving the fat in the pot.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, 4 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the potatoes and zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Return the pancetta to the pot, stir in the tomatoes and 8 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.
• Add the kale, beans and their liquid and pasta and continue to cook until the pasta is cooked through and the kale is tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaves and season with more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with grated Parmesan.

ALICE WATERS'S SEASONAL MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Soak the beans overnight in a large pot, covered by several inches of water.
• The next day, simmer the beans 2 hours or until tender. Drain and set aside, reserving the cooking water.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook for about 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes longer.
• Add 3 cups water and bring to a low boil. When boiling, add the leek and green beans. After 5 minutes, add the zucchini and tomatoes. After 15 minutes, add the spinach and beans and cook for 5 more minutes. If the soup is too thick, add water (reserved bean water is good).
• Remove the bay leaf and bare thyme sticks and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve in bowls, each garnished with grated Parmesan cheese or pesto.

WINTER MINESTRONE VERY DELICIOUS AND HARDY!

Steps:

• In 5- to 6-quart pot, heat oil over medium heat. Remove and discard sausage casings; crumble sausage into pot; cook until lightly browned, stirring often. Add onion, carrot and celery; cook, stirring often, until onion is soft. Drain and discard any fat from sausage.
• Add beans, garlic, bell pepper, parsley, herbs, tomatoes (coarsely chopped) and their liquid, and broth. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer gently 30 minutes.
• Stir in wine and pasta and simmer gently, uncovered, until pasta is tender (10 to 12 minutes). Add spinach or Swiss chard, stirring just until it is wilted. Taste; add salt if needed.
• Serve with Parmesan cheese to sprinkle over each serving to taste. Makes.

MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a stockpot, saute the onions, celery and parsley in oil until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cabbage, carrots, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. , In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir into soup along with the zucchini, beans and pasta. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables and pasta are tender. Top each serving with cheese.

THE RIVER CAFE'S WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and slowly fry the carrots, onion and celery until soft and dark. This will take about 20 minutes but it's worth it - the slow cooking gives a lovely taste. Add the garlic, chard stalks and half the parsley, and stir to prevent sticking. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes or until reduced.
• Add half the Swiss chard leaves, half the cavolo nero, three-quarters of the beans, and the boiling stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Pour in more stock if needed - don't add too much - it should be thick.
• Add the remaining Swiss chard and cavolo nero and blanch briefly so they remain green and crisp. Season when slightly cooled.
• Purée the remaining cannellini beans coarsely in a blender with some of the cooking liquid. Add to the soup - it should be very green. Stir in the herbs and serve hot with Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Cook pancetta, onions, celery, and carrots in oil in a wide 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, while preparing chard.
• Cut out stems from chard and chop stems, reserving leaves. Stir chard stems into pancetta mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total. (Set aside chard leaves.)
• Push vegetables to one side of pot. Add tomato paste to cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir paste into vegetables and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. (Paste may stick to pot, but don't let it burn.)
• Stir in tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up with a spoon, then add hot water (3 quarts), scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot.
• Bring to a simmer. Stir in cabbage, escarole, and parmesan rind. Simmer, covered, until greens are tender, about 40 minutes.
• Coarsely chop chard leaves and stir into soup along with beans. Simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes. Discard rind. Season soup with salt and pepper. If using ditalini, stir in just before serving.

WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Cut sausage, potatoes and fennel into 1/2 inch slices.
• In a skillet, cook sausage until brown and drain.
• In a large slow cooker, combine squash, potatoes, fennel, onion, beans, garlic and Italian seasoning.
• Top with sausage and pour chicken broth and wine over all in slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.
• Stir in spinach, cover and cook 10 minutes more.

SLOW-COOKER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Combine the first 13 ingredients in a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours or until vegetables are tender. Stir in beans, zucchini and pasta. Cook, covered, on high about 30 minutes longer, until pasta is tender. Discard bay leaves. If desired, top with grated Parmesan cheese. Freeze option: Freeze cooled soup in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally; add water if necessary.

WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Place beans in a medium bowl. Add enough cold water to cover by 2 inches. Let soak overnight. Drain, and set aside.
• In a large pot, combine 8 cups of water, drained beans, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, until beans are almost tender, about 1 hour.
• In a medium saute pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, rosemary, and 2 teaspoons thyme. Cook, covered, until onions begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes. Add vegetable mixture to beans.
• Stir in squash, potato, kale, cheese rind, salt, and pepper. Add enough water to just cover (about 6 cups), and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered, until potatoes and beans are tender, about 25 minutes.
• If desired, to thicken the soup, use the back of a spoon to mash about 2 cups of beans, squash, and potato against the side of the pot. Add sage, remaining teaspoon of thyme, and crushed red pepper. Taste, and adjust for seasoning. Garnish with grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil, if desired. Serve immediately.

WINTER MINESTRONE - GIADA DE LAURENTIIS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, pancetta, and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and potato; saute for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and rosemary sprig. Simmer until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes break down, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, blend 3/4 cup of the beans with 1/4 cup of the broth in a processor until almost smooth. Add the pureed bean mixture, remaining broth, and Parmesan cheese rind to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until the potato pieces are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Stir in the whole beans and parsley. Simmer until the beans are heated through and the soup is thick, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Discard Parmesan rind and rosemary sprig (the leaves will have fallen off of the stem.).
• Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.