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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.

157K 29 4.3

Last modified on: May 29^th 2011

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For 6 people, you will need:

1 200 g white haricot beans
2 200 g peas
3 4 spring onions (scallions)
4 2 tomatoes
5 200 g green beans
6 2 courgettes
7 2 carrots
8 2 turnips
9 2 potatoes
10 200 g green asparagus spears
11 6 tablespoons olive oil
12 2 litres water
13 2 chicken stock cubes
14 salt
15 pepper
Total weight: 4,970 grams

Change to the quantities for: 2 people 3 people 6 people 12 people 18 people

Change measures: Metric

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How long does it take?

Time required for this recipe:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
2 hours 19 min.	1 hour 11 min.	3 hours 30 min.

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Step by step recipe

Stage 1

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

Stage 2 - 10 min.

Shell 200 g peas, or use frozen ones.

Stage 3 - 10 min.

Peel, wash and chop 4 spring onions (scallions).

Stage 4 - 20 min.

Peel 2 tomatoes and cut into quarters.

Stage 5 - 10 min.

Wash 200 g green beans, cut off the ends and cut into pieces.

Stage 6 - 29 min.

Prepare 2 courgettes in small pieces.

Stage 7 - 40 min.

Peel and wash 2 carrots, 2 turnips and 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces.

Stage 8 - 20 min.

Peel and boil 200 g green asparagus spears in salted water until just tender, but still with some crunch.

Stage 9 - 20 min.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Then add the tomatoes, check seasoning and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes.

Stage 14

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

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
2,129 Kcal or 8,914 Kj	58 gr	248 gr	107 gr
106 %	22 %	23 %	16 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
43 Kcal or 180 Kj	1 gr	5 gr	2 gr
2 %	<1 %	<1 %	<1 %

Per person
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
355 Kcal or 1,486 Kj	10 gr	41 gr	18 gr
18 %	4 %	4 %	3 %

% are calculated relative to a Recommended Dietary Intake or RDI of 2000 k-calories or 8400 k-joules by day for a woman (change to a man).

How much will it cost?

For 6 people : 10.77 €
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)

	Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants), Du Barry soup, "Buttonhole" quail eggs, Steak burger topped with egg, Aperitif rolls, ... All
	White haricot beans: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Sausages with baked beans, French style, Duo of slow-cooked pork, Paimpol salad, Warm haricot bean salad, Cassoulet, ... All
	Green beans: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Salmon "en papillote" with small vegetables, Cherry tomato and green bean salad, Icelandic-style fish and vegetable pie, Grandma's salad, Green bean purée, ... All
	Peas: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Rice and peas, Chicken breasts in a potato crust, Baby broad beans and peas with rice and mascarpone , Pea risotto "Mantecare", Paella, ... All

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