Being partly of Italian heritage and until
entered my life, my minestrone was always made from scratch, albeit sometimes in a pressure cooker. As with most traditional recipes, there is no one definitive recipe as each region will have it's own unique take on it, which is often dictated by the food specialties they produce.
My general observations of soups made in the
Vs on the stove top or slow cooker is that the excellent temperature control makes for wonderful soups able to convey really delicate and fresh flavours.
I am posting here on this recipe to offer some suggestions and observations after having tried many versions of minestrone in many parts of Italy:
For the total volume of liquid, I feel that a whole tin on Chopped Tomatoes AND Tomato Paste is just too much tomato. Minestrone is not intended to be a tomato based soup.
Onion is good but you can subtley change the flavour by using leek - just for a change.
I tend not to use garlic at all.
I'm funny about the type of vegetables and the order in which they should be added/cooked. The Italians have a name for a step in cooking called "insaporire" which translates as "to impart flavour". The point of adding oil (and possibly a bit of butter too - tastes great but your choice) and sauteeing is to enable the onion (or leek), carrot and celery to release their flavours through heat into the oil. I often add a parsnip too and after a few minutes a zucchini as well. Just putting all these ingredients into water and "boiling them" so to speak into a soup does not provide a richness of flavour (in my humble opinion) than if you took the time to do this extra step.
So I would start with:
Sauteeing the chopped onion. (at this point you could add pancetta/speck/or bacon if using - it does change the flavour considerably)
Add chopped carrot and celery (and parsnip) saute that. Add zucchini after a couple of minutes and then add liquid and potatoe if using)
I am ambivalent about the use of mushrooms in the soup at all - but if you must add them then I would saute them as well. It's just that they have such a delicate flavour that becomes lost with over cooking and somewhat uninspiring if just thrown directly into the liquid to stew or boil.
Tinned beans... yes in a pinch but soaking and boiling your own is such a different experince.
If no beans, try some Puy lentils (no soaking required but I would pre boil and add cooked).
SUGAR!!! I have often wondered about the use of sugar in any Italian savoury recipe - it's just not done! But I think it stems from perhaps two possible origins. The amount of tomato used and the cooking method might make the soup too acidic and the use of sugar could tame it down. OR could the use of sugar stem from an attempt to emulate "pre-made" store bought soups and sauces which have a distinct "factory flavour" and cloying sweetness? I'm so anti this that I wouldn't want to experiement anyway...
Stock concentrate - to be fair I have not made this yet and I look foward to having it in my fridge!! But I am a big lover of having large stocks of chicken or vegetable stock in the freezer. Great stock can be made so economically using chicken carcasses (preferably organic) and easily (set on stove and simmer for three hours or large slow cooker for 4- 6 hours on low). So I would encourage you to try to get an amazing flavour. (But yes I will make the stock concentrate because it makes sense too!)
Other vegetables - after the inital cooking with liquid period, I would add any combination of spinach, cauliflower and cabbage at this point and cook for a while longer - in my opinion these veggies take away from the soups flavour rather than add to it when cooked for a long time.
Add peas right at the end if they are frozen.
PASTA - use of and how much. Alas my traditional pasta eating days are over with the appearance of a scary and uncomfortable intolerance to all things wheat! I do eat some gluten free pasta occassionally but apart from one brand, most really taste like an anemic and rubbery imitation of the real thing. But back to my point of whether to use or not use...
I have tasted both types of minestrone in Italy - without pasta and with. And of the "with pasta" variety, I have tasted minestrone's where the pasta has been cooked in the soup, and versions where the pasta was cooked separately and added later.
Without Pasta, With Pasta cooked in the soup or With Pasta cooked separately (and how much pasta to use in total) is really a matter of taste. I would agree with astrogirl and Shayla that 130g for this volume of liquid is too much. Keep in mind that minestrone is meant to be a hearty winter meal so the addition of pasta would definitely satisfy hungry appetites. Cooking pasta in the soup will case the soup's liquid to carry all the starch from the pasta... it can become quite thick. But I've tasted it made by a lovely traditional Italian mother and I thought it was great at the time.
Oh and smaller sized (but not tiny) pasta is best - there's a type which is like a 0.5 cm tiny macaroni. From memory in a big pot of soup (think 3 or 4 litres at least) I think one tablespoon of pasta was considered sufficient.
I'm not sure what I would think now when my thinking on food and what I put into my body has changed in so many ways.
Final notes:
Adding basil??? not sure about that but that's because as a purist I could just be closed minded about some things. However parsley at the end is great.
Try sprinkling grated parmesan cheese on top.
Or adding a tablespoon of your favourite top shelf, expensive EVOO once the soup is in the bowl. Truly divine.
Italian's NEVER eat bread and pasta together!
Enjoy
