Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Kitchen Sink



So the Italian version of tortilla soup turns out to be Minestrone. So vague is the definition of this soup I have yet to find a codified recipe nor an agreed upon pronunciation. Is it Min-e-stron-ee, rhymes with knee? or Min-e-stron rhymes with throne? I really couldn't say. All I know is that making Minestrone is a dangerous endeavour. Dangerous because when including everything but the kitchen sink, one is likely to make far too much soup, which is what happened tonight. Seriously, if anyone in the area needs some soup, feel free to stop by. So Jay and I had many arguments (err, conversations) about what exactly constitutes Minestrone. He seemed to have more rules than me. Must have pasta. Must have tomatoes, but not a tomato broth. I looked at probably 4-5 minestrone recipes and have created the following. A few recommend garnishing with pesto, which I store bought (I know, for shame):

Minestrone with Pesto

2 tbsp olive oil
1 med onion diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 small potato, cubed
2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried marjoram
2 dried bay leaves
1/2 lb green beans, stemmed and cut into 2 in pieces
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini, chopped
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
8 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 lb whole wheat rotini pasta
1 15 oz can beans (great northern, kidney, or cannellini will all work)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup pesto, homemade or store bought

In a large soup pan heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and sweat for 3-4 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for 2 minutes more. Add thyme, marjoram and bay leave and cook for 1 minute. Add green beans, bell pepper, zucchini, tomatoes, broth, wine and dried pasta and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked. Add beans and cook for a few minutes to heat through. Salt and pepper to taste. To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with a dollop of pesto.

1 comment:

Candi said...

Sounds yummy! I'm actually trying to start my own cooking blog and thought of the name "Will Cook for Love" but figured I'd Google it first to see if anyone had already thought of it, lol!