Minestrone


Minestrone
Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup. It is made with a mix of vegetables and a poultry stock. It is quite simple to make, but preparing all the vegetables takes time.
There are doubtless as many minestrone recipes as there are Italian cooks, but here is my version.
176 K 4.3/5 (29 reviews)
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Last modified on: May 29th 2011
For 6 people, you will need:

Change to the quantities for:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 2 hours 20 min.
Cooking: 1 hour 15 min.
All in all: 3 hours 30 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at 9:00, you will finish around : 13:30.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: 16:00.Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1
Minestrone
The day before, put 200 g white beans to soak overnight if you are using dried beans. For fresh ones this isn't necessary.

Stage 2 - 10 min.
Minestrone
Shell 200 g peas, or use frozen ones.

Stage 3 - 10 min.
Minestrone
Peel, wash and chop 4 spring onions (scallions).

Stage 4 - 20 min.
Minestrone
Peel 2 tomatoes and cut into quarters.

Stage 5 - 10 min.
Minestrone
Wash 200 g green beans, cut off the ends and cut into pieces.

Stage 6 - 30 min.
Minestrone
Prepare 2 courgettes in small pieces.

Stage 7 - 40 min.
Minestrone
Peel and wash 2 carrots, 2 turnips and 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces.

Stage 8 - 20 min.
Minestrone
Peel and boil 200 g green asparagus spears in salted water until just tender, but still with some crunch.

Stage 9 - 20 min.
Minestrone
Throw away the water that the beans have soaked in and replace with salted water, Boil until they are cooked but still slightly firm.

Drain.

Stage 10 - 1 min.
Minestrone
Pour 6 tablespoons olive oil into a large pan over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onions, salt, pepper and cook while stirring for 1 minute.

Add the turnips, carrots and potatoes. Stir to mix well.

Stage 11 - 5 min.
Minestrone
Add the courgettes, haricot beans, green beans and asparagus. Stir to mix well and cook together for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.

This preliminary cooking of the vegetables in oil is important to add flavour to the minestrone.

Stage 12 - 35 min.
Minestrone
Moisten with 2 litres water and add 2 chicken stock cubes.

Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and leave to simmer gently until all the vegetables are well cooked.

Stage 13 - 10 min.
Minestrone
Then add the tomatoes, check seasoning and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes.

Stage 14
Minestrone
Serve hot on its own, or accompanied by slices of toasted bread spread with pesto, or a little grated Parmesan.
Remarks
Ideally a minestrone should include at least 5 vegetables, but they can be any you choose, so you can vary this recipe in both ingredients and proportions.
You can also add a cupful of rice along with the vegetables. There are those who consider that this should replace the haricot beans, but I think it's good with both.

Minestrone is even better reheated the following day.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe60 RDI=20 %260 RDI=20 %110 RDI=20 %2,170 RDI=110 %9,080 RDI: 110 %
Per 100 g1 RDI=0 %5 RDI=0 %2 RDI=0 %40 RDI=2 %180 RDI: 2 %
Per person9 RDI=4 %40 RDI=4 %20 RDI=3 %360 RDI=20 %1,510 RDI: 20 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
How much will it cost?
  • For 6 people : 10.80 €
  • Per person : 1.80 €

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Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
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