Cooking-ez.com

1,058 easy and fully explained recipes, with 12,856 photos and 77 videos

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.

128,8434.2/5 for 25 ratings

Grade this recipe:

Last modified on: May 29^th 2011

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
11 6 tablespoons olive oil
12 2 litres water
13 2 chicken stock cubes
14 salt
15 pepper
Total weight: 4,970 grams

Change those ingredients for: 2 people 3 people 6 people 12 people 18 people

Change measures: Metric

Metric weight Metric volumes

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.

Keeping: Several days in the fridge.

At what time?

When will I finish if I start the recipe at a certain time?
When should I start for the recipe to be ready at a certain time?

Work this out...

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 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.

Nutritional information

Whole recipe
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
2,169 Kcal or 9,081 Kj	54 gr	248 gr	107 gr
108 %	21 %	23 %	16 %

Per 100 g
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
44 Kcal or 184 Kj	1 gr	5 gr	2 gr
2 %	<1 %	<1 %	<1 %

Per person
Energetic value	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats
361 Kcal or 1,511 Kj	9 gr	41 gr	18 gr
18 %	3 %	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 €

Note : These prices are only approximate

Change currency:

Source

Home made.

More recipes?

This recipe uses (among others)

	Water: You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Creamy risotto with diced vegetables and flax seeds, Taos hotpot, Couscous, Valay-Brest, Mustard baps, ... All
	White haricot beans: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Paimpol salad, Duo of slow-cooked pork, Beans with tomatoes, 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, Green beans with tomatoes, Macédoine of vegetables, Mexican-style pork medallions , Green bean purée, ... All
	Peas: You can check-out other recipes which use it, like for example: Eggs en Cocotte à la Française, Fillet of pollack cooked in two stages, Macédoine of vegetables, Fish fillet in express cooking envelope, Pea risotto "mantecare", ... All

Other recipes you may also like

Macarons (the original French macaroons)

This recipe really is "of the moment": the success of these small, highly-coloured cakes, in an infinite variety of flavours, is impressive. It's a recipe which needs some care, in order to produce a result worthy of a professional pastrychef. No problem, I will guide you through the recipe,...
252,908 714.7/5 for 43 ratings 2 hours 38 min.

Almond cream or frangipane

Light and delicious, it is used in a lot of desserts like tarts, cakes and pies (epiphany galette).
80,743 25/5 for 12 ratings 23 min.

Chocolate mousse

Here is a simple quick recipe for chocolate mousse. It is just necessary to be careful at the final stage, when mixing the melted chocolate and the beaten egg-whites.
94,2463.7/5 for 3 ratings 40 min.

New leavened bread

This new recipe for leavened bread is simple and delicious, but needs rather long resting times. If you'd like more more information about making your own bread, look at this dedicated page.
133,057 34.3/5 for 6 ratings 7 hours

Italian Meringue

Italian meringue is made with sugar cooked to 120°C or 248°F. This is different from the French, which is made from caster sugar. The cooked sugar gives a softer meringue which can be added to other preparations or use as it is.
103,9094.3/5 for 15 ratings 30 min.

News list of cooking-ez.com

Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.

Post your comment or question

Follow this recipe

If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.

Note: We'll never share your email with anyone else.

Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.