Makes 6 to 8 servingsTHE BASIC RECIPE
Makes 6 to 8 servings
THERE ARE AS MANY VARIATIONS of Mediterranean vegetable soup, or minestrone, as there are of Mediterranean fish soup. All rely on a panoply of fresh seasonal vegetables, and for vegetarians especially they offer a rewarding study. While pancetta (unsmoked Italian bacon), bacon, or some other type of preserved pork often adds richness to the broth, the meat is just as often left out entirely, and the richness comes from a dollop of finest-quality olive oil added at the very end as the soup is served. In Italy, freshly grated parmigiano cheese is always added at the table, and leftover minestrone forms the basis for another frugal soup, the Tuscan favorite called ribollita (boiled again!), the next day.
As with fish soups, the technique is similar no matter where you are: aromatics (including pancetta or prosciutto or bacon, if you wish) are sautéed in olive oil, then the vegetables and broth are added. Finally, an enrichment of oil, grated cheese, or whatever is added just before serving.
I’ve evolved the following basic recipe over the years from the minestrone described by Pellegrino Artusi in La Scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene, a great cookbook first published in Florence in 1891, still in print (my copy is the 109th edition of the original) and still used regularly in northern Italian home kitchens.
Don’t be constrained by the vegetables listed, Artusi counsels—almost anything fresh and seasonal is a happy addition to this spectrum. Cabbage-family vegetables (cabbage itself, Brussels sprouts, turnips, kohlrabi, and so forth) should be added at the end or cooked separately. If cooked a long time in the soup, their strong flavors will dominate.
½ cup white beans, such as cannellini or Great Northern, or borlotti (cranberry) beans, soaked overnight, or use the quick-soak method (this page)
6 cups chicken stock (this page), vegetable broth (this page), or water
½ green or Savoy cabbage, slivered
3 or 4 large leaves of red or white Swiss chard, slivered
1 tablespoon finely minced pancetta or prosciutto
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
¼ cup finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 large potato, peeled and diced
1 large or 2 small zucchini, diced
½ pound ripe tomatoes, peeled (this page) and chopped, or about 6 canned whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
other vegetables, such as green beans or peas, greens (kale, turnip greens, broccoli), leeks, pumpkin, acorn or butternut squash, turnips, diced or slivered, as desired
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Arborio rice
6 to 8 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano cheese
In a small covered saucepan, simmer the drained beans in about 2 cups of the stock until tender but not falling apart—40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the age of the beans. When done, set aside in the cooking liquid.
Rinse the slivered cabbage and chard in running water and steam for about 15 minutes in the water clinging to the leaves, adding a few tablespoons of water if necessary to keep the vegetables from scorching. When the vegetables are tender but not falling apart, set aside.
Combine the pancetta, garlic, parsley, and onion and sauté gently in the oil in a heavy stockpot or soup kettle large enough to hold all the vegetables and the stock until just tender but not brown—about 10 to 15 minutes.
Add the remaining vegetables to the pot along with the remaining broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 20 to 30 minutes, just until the vegetables are tender. Add the cabbage, the chard, and the beans with their cooking liquid. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper if you wish. Stir in the rice and continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is done. Remove from the heat and serve immediately, with a spoonful of grated cheese on top of each serving.
Variations: In Majorca, roasted and peeled sweet red peppers, cut into strips, are added, along with a little hot red pepper.
In Lucca, in the lower Arno Valley, a springtime minestrone called garmugia includes spring onions, fresh fava beans and peas, diced hearts of small artichokes, and the tips of fresh asparagus, served up with a dollop of the fine, light olive oil for which the region is famous.
In Provence the magnificent soup called pistou (“Pee stew!” said Nicholas, age four, when I told him what we were having for supper) is made by stirring a healthy dollop of fragrant basil sauce, similar to Italian pesto, into the basic vegetable mixture at the end. To make pistou sauce, pound in a mortar 3 crushed garlic cloves, 1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves, and a pinch of salt. When the mixture is a paste, stir in 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano and 2 or 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. You may also substitute a handful of broken vermicelli for the rice in the original.
Tuscan ribollita, an old-fashioned peasant dish once scorned by the gentry and now enjoying tremendous vogue, is made with leftover minestrone, one in which rustic white or borlotti beans are dominant and bourgeois rice is absent. The leftover soup is reheated the next day with 4 or 5 slices of good country bread torn into chunks and mixed in to absorb all the soup’s juices. A healthy dollop of the best-quality extra-virgin, preferably unfiltered, olive oil is poured over the top of the very thick soup before serving—robust fare!
In the eastern Mediterranean, and especially in Islamic countries, mutton or preserved mutton (qawarma) takes the place of prosciutto, pancetta, or other pork products. To give a vegetable soup an eastern flavor, sauté some lean cubed lamb with the onions and garlic and add a cinnamon stick and a small amount of allspice to the seasoning of the soup.