Minestrone

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 6 people, you will need:

• 1 200 g white 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

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
2 hours 20 min.	1 hour 15 min.	3 hours 30 min.

Step by step recipe

1	The day before, put 200 g white beans to soak overnight if you are using dried beans. For fresh ones this isn't necessary.
2	Shell 200 g peas, or use frozen ones.
3	Peel, wash and chop 4 spring onions (scallions).
4	Peel 2 tomatoes and cut into quarters.
5	Wash 200 g green beans, cut off the ends and cut into pieces.
6	Prepare 2 courgettes in small pieces.
7	Peel and wash 2 carrots, 2 turnips and 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces.
8	Peel and boil 200 g green asparagus spears in salted water until just tender, but still with some crunch.
9	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.
10	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.
11	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.
12	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.
13	Then add the tomatoes, check seasoning and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes.
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.

---