Minestrone Soup Recipe

Minestrone Soup Recipe
Serve it with Pesto or without!

A traditional Minestrone soup recipe straight from Mama's kitchen to yours. Serve it with Pesto or without but don't forget the parmigiano and a drizzle of good Olive Oil. That is the traditional way to eat this Italian vegetable soup.

Of course a thick piece of crusty Italian bread to go with it is a must!

The history of pasta and Italian food has shown us time and time again that these foods were created using what Italian peasants had available to them and turning them into delicious meals.

There were times when meat was not always available so Italians would use the bone of scrap meats or prosciutto and sometime even sharing that bone over and over again with neighbors and friends to make Italian soup.

Somehow food just tasted better because of the spirit of sharing and community was infused in the food.

Since we don't have a prosciutto bone handy let's just get some diced panchetta.

Minestrone Soup Recipe Ingredients:

6 cups some of homemade chicken stock recipe or homemade beef stock recipe
1 cup diced panchetta
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced onion
1 cup string beans cut in one inch pieces
2 cups small zucchini green and yellow. Slice lengthwise into quarters then chop into inch pieces
1 cup stalks of celery sliced
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
4 cloves crushed garlic
15oz can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
16oz can of bushes cannellini beans with juice
16oz can of bushes kidney beans with juice
cup chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pound ditalini pasta
Olive Oil
Freshly grated parmigiano cheese
Olive oil

Here is a pesto recipe for your minestrone soup recipe if you do serve it with pesto. Which by the way is really delicious!

Minestrone Soup Recipe Preparation:

Cook your pasta in boiling salted water. When it's cooked, drain, rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

Let's begin preparing the vegetable for this amazing Italian soup.

Saute the panchetta in the pan until tender but cooked.

Drizzle the bottom of a large pan with Olive Oil, heat and then add the
Onions
Garlic
Potatoes
and Carrots
and saute for no more then 10 minutes or until slightly tender.

Then add the Zucchini, Celery and Green beans and saute for an additional 5 to 7 minutes.

In a large pot add your chicken or beef stock
the san marzano tomatoes
the 2 cans of bushes beans with the juice
and bring to a boil.

The way to tell when the vegetables are done is to bite into the carrots and the potatoes. If they are still firm but tender the rest of the vegetables are ready too!

If you are going to make your minestrone soup with a pesto recipe, now is the perfect time to make it. The vegetables have to cook for about 15 minutes.

HINT: I like to make my pesto before so I'm not rushed.

When the soup Italian vegetable soup mixture is done and you are ready to serve you'll ladle a portion of pasta into a bowl.
Pour the Italian vegetable soup over the pasta and sprinkle with the chopped parsley.

You can add the Olive Oil, pesto and parmigiano or you can set them all on the table for your guests to do it the way they like.

ANOTHER HINT: A Minestrone soup recipe is served much like a stew so don't be shy with the pasta. Of course I live by that moto!

:o)

If you're looking for a terrific Pasta Fagioli Soup recipe this one is the best on the net!