Helen RandellNonna's Minestrone
June 15th 2011 11:29
When I was doing a bit of research for this post I came across an article on Rob featured in The Advertiser. He was talking about his memories of food and how his Grandma used to make a wonderful minestrone. When I was writing my post it was the middle of summer, but I kept hold of the recipe (and recently stored it in my recipe box) to give it a whirl during the cooler months. Low and behold, it's winter and the perfect time to make soup.
I made this a couple of weekends ago, freezing the majority of it for lunches and quick dinners. It is just fabulous and if you do make it, definitely make a double batch. As Rob said in the article, if you can't stand your spoon up in it, then it's not a real minestrone!
Rob's Minestrone Della Nonna - adapted from The Advertiser published article
Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
Handful of parsley finely chopped
2 sage leaves
1 garlic clove finely chopped
150g pancetta cubed
2 carrots, cut in half then sliced
2 celery stalks, halved then sliced
3 whole potatoes
1 glass white wine
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1/2 tin borlotti beans
Handful basil leaves
3 litres chicken stock
1/4 cabbage, shredded
1 cup small shell pasta
Grated parmesan cheese
In a large cooking pot, add a good lashing of olive oil. Add the onion, parsley, sage, garlic and pancetta. Cook over a low heat until the onion is soft and golden. Add the carrot, celery and whole potatoes and cook for five minutes. Then turn up the heat to high and add the glass of wine. You want this to reduce to half its quantity, then reduce the heat.
Add the tomato puree, can of tomatoes, borlotti beans and basil (tear up the basil). Add the stock and bring slowly to the boil. Cover and leave simmering for a couple of hours, giving an occasional stir.
Taste and season if necessary. Squash any potatoes that haven't broken up against the side of the pot with the wooden spoon. Now add the cabbage and pasta.
Cook until al dente. If the soup is quite thick, you can cook the pasta separately and add later to the soup.
Serve with parmesan.
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