Minestrone: how to prepare a delicious and light Italian soup?

Friends, today on our table a dish comes from sunny Italy, where many vegetables ripen. This is a recipe for Italian “Minestrone” - a delicious and healthy vegetable soup with meatballs. Minestrone is a traditional Italian rich and thick vegetable soup with a rich composition. Translated from Italian, minestrone means “big soup”, because it contains a large number of different vegetables.

Traditionally in Italy it is boiled in a large saucepan and tasted with a large friendly family. The national dish consists mainly of vegetables, but other products are also added to it, which increase nutritional value and satiety.

Classic minestrone soup is prepared with potatoes, all types of cabbage, carrots, different types of onions, zucchini, zucchini, pumpkin, sweet and bitter peppers, celery, green peas, pumpkin, lentils, beans, including green beans... Ingredients can vary up to infinity depending on season, availability and taste. You can add those vegetables that are currently available for sale.

Minestrone can be not only lean in vegetable broth, but also with meat products. It is made with meat or fish broth. Sometimes all these products are present in the soup at once. There are also recipes for soup with sausages, smoked meats, bacon and other products that make the dish more rich and appetizing.

Today we will prepare vegetable minestrone soup with meatballs. These little meat balls always help out when there is not enough meat to cook soup in a strong broth. At the same time, the soup turns out tasty, meaty, aromatic and satisfying.

Let's see how to prepare Italian vegetable minestrone soup, and a recipe with photos will help you do it correctly.

Minestrone: recipe by Christian Lorenzini, chef of Buono and Christian restaurants

Photo: Buono Restaurant
4 servings Vegetable broth – 2 l Boiled lentils – 4 tbsp. l. Boiled red beans – 4 tbsp. l. Carrots – 1 pc. Potatoes – 2 pcs. Celery – 2 stalks Zucchini – 1 pc. Green asparagus – 4 stalks Broccoli – 100 g Fresh spinach – 1 bunch Salt and pepper – to taste Parsley – 4 sprigs Olive oil – 1 tbsp. l. Salt and pepper - to taste

1. Peel all vegetables and cut into medium-sized pieces. 2. Fry carrots, potatoes, celery in oil until half cooked, pour in vegetable broth and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. 3. Add boiled beans and lentils, cut into broccoli florets, chopped asparagus and zucchini, and spinach leaves. Cook for another 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. 4. Place a third of the soup in a blender, grind to a puree consistency, put back into the soup, and let it boil for 2-3 minutes. 5. Serve the finished soup hot or cold with parsley leaves.

Minestrone is very popular in Italy

Firstly, this is a beautiful dish, with a beautiful name and stunningly beautiful taste. Secondly, a bowl of such soup contains ONLY 210 kcal, despite the fact that its benefits for the body and figure are practically inestimable! And in general, your loved one must finally admit that healthy eating is not about “Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeething.

Minestrone is a very popular dish in Italy. Those who have been to Europe have probably noticed that the attitude of Europeans towards soups is completely different from that of us - Russians. If Europeans want something liquid and hot, they order regular meat broth. And all the so-called European soups are not soups at all, but rather purees of stewed vegetables. Minestrone is no exception. This is a rich, pureed and slightly liquid stew made from a large number of vegetables.

By the way, there are really a lot of vegetables in the classic version of the soup - at least ten different types. Add to this broth from meat, bacon or poultry, cheese dressing, Pesto sauce and be sure not to forget pasta. What you get is not soup - soup!!! But this is exactly how the name of the soup is translated from Italian. What can I say, original...

If your goal is to get the same taste as in Italy, then relax. The fact is that in each region the “boot” of Minestrone is prepared in its own way. Just like ours - borscht or okroshka. Therefore, feel free to experiment with the composition. The main thing is to adhere to the general rules:

1. Vegetables need to be fried and then simmered over SLOW heat, slowly. Be patient and free up time. It will take you 1.5-2 hours to do everything. 2. Vegetables should be seasonal. Don’t chase “chemical” bell peppers in the middle of winter, but replace them with something more healthy. 3. The soup should contain some legumes - peas, chickpeas, beans. Of course, fresh and green ones are better. 4. Some of the vegetables in the soup should be pureed, some should be hard. 5. We add only hard varieties of pasta or pasta, otherwise all the usefulness is down the drain. 6. Don't skimp on greens - basil, parsley - the more, the better. 7. Minestrone should be thick. The more variety of vegetables you use, the better. Let not 10, but 7 or 8 species should be present.

The recipe for Italian Minestrone soup, which you will read below, does not claim to be the only correct one. However, it will serve as a guide for you in your own research. So let's begin.

To prepare six servings of soup we need:

• 1 small zucchini;
• 1 large or 2 small onions;
• 2 medium potatoes;
• 1 carrot;
• 2-3 tomatoes;
• 2 sweet bell peppers, in different colors if possible;
• 50-60 gr. durum wheat pasta or small pasta;
• 1 clove of garlic;
• 250gr. green beans
• 20g. any hard cheese;
• 100 ml. olive oil;
• 1.2 liters of water;
• herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, etc.) and spices (salt, black, red pepper, chili pepper, pesto sauce) to taste;

Genoese-style minestrone: recipe by Paolo Boccolini, chef of the Donna Margherita restaurant

Photo: Shutterstock.com
4 servings Potatoes – 2–3 pcs. Fennel – 1 pc. Celery stalk – 3–4 pcs. Leek (white part) – 1 pc. Grated Parmesan – 1 tbsp. l. Garlic – 1 clove Rosemary – 1 sprig Carrot – 0.5 pcs. Zucchini – 1 pc. Savoy cabbage – 75 g Pumpkin – 50 g Fresh spinach – 40 g Boiled beans – 75 g Olive oil – 65 g Water – 1.5–2 l Salt – to taste

Cooking method 1. In olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan, fry chopped garlic, carrots and onions, cut into small cubes, add a sprig of rosemary. 2. Fill with water, add diced potatoes, pre-boiled beans, finely chopped leeks, celery stalk, green part of zucchini, savoy cabbage, pumpkin, fennel, salt, pepper and cook until tender. 3. Pour soup into a deep plate, add finely chopped spinach, sprinkle with grated Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil

What is Minestrone Soup?

Italian cuisine is famous for its culinary delights. Minestrone is one of the most popular soups in this country. The simplicity of preparation and the range of products used is captivating.

Moreover, the history of this soup goes far back, to the sixteenth century. The interesting thing is that there is no single set of products for this soup. It varies depending on the season, harvest, and location of the Italian region where it was prepared.

Each region used its own products, those that could be grown in your own garden. Cooking recipes passed from generation to generation, acquiring new features and characteristics. Translated from Italian, minestra means “soup”, one means big. It turns out - “big soup”.

So there must be a lot of ingredients. Considering that minestrone is a traditional folk dish, it was prepared for a large family, in a large saucepan. Here's the "big soup" for you.

Minestrone with pesto sauce: recipe by Mirko Dzago, chef of the Cheese restaurant

Photo: Shutterstock.com
4 servings Zucchini – 1 pc. Bell pepper – 0.5 pcs. Leek – 20 g Red onion – 0.25 pcs. Potatoes – 1–2 pcs. Pumpkin – 100 g Celery – 1 stalk Broccoli – 60 g Ready tomato sauce – 60 g Olive oil – 1 tbsp. l. Vegetable broth – 850 ml Peeled garlic – 1 clove Peeled carrots – 1 pc. Cauliflower – 60 g Fresh thyme – pinch Salt – to taste

For the pesto sauce: Pine nut – 55 g Olive oil – 500 ml Peeled garlic – 2-3 cloves Fresh basil – 400 g Grated Parmesan – 100 g Sea salt – to taste

1. For pesto sauce: place ingredients in a blender in layers: basil leaves, cheese, nuts, garlic. Then add olive oil and process everything, periodically turning the blender on and off. Add salt to taste. 2. Peel the vegetables, cut into small cubes, sauté in olive oil, then add to the prepared vegetable broth. Bring to a boil. Then add tomato paste. And add the rest of the ingredients. 3. Bring until done (about 20 minutes). Add pesto sauce to the prepared minestrone, mix and pour into plates.

See also: Pesto sauce, recipe →

Minestrone ingredients

Traditional composition of minestrone soup:

approximately 375 g white beans (you can use 100 g green beans)

• 2 zucchini,
• 2 carrots,
• 2 leeks,
• 1 clove of garlic,
• half a head of cabbage,
• half an onion
• 1 stalk of celery,
• 1 sprig fresh chopped basil
• 2 sprigs freshly chopped rosemary
• 3 tomatoes (or 2 tbsp tomato paste),
• salt, pepper to taste,
• olive oil,
• Parmesan cheese.

Minestrone Ligurian style: recipe by Mirko Caldino, chef of the Piccolino restaurant

Photo: Restaurant Piccolino
4 servings Carrots – 1 pc. Celery stalk – 2 pcs. Potatoes – 2 pcs. Onions – 0.5 pcs. Fresh spinach – 30 g Kenyan beans – 20 g Cauliflower – 20 g Zucchini – 0.5 pcs. Olive oil – 2 tbsp. l. Salt and pepper - to taste

1. Boil peeled and diced potatoes until half cooked in plenty of water. 2. Fry diced carrots and celery in oil, add chopped onion, fry a little more. 3. Place the fried vegetables in a saucepan with the potatoes and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. 4. Add beans, chopped zucchini and cabbage disassembled into small florets to the pan. Bring to readiness, at the very end add spinach, salt and pepper to taste.

How to cook classic Italian vegetable soup Minestrone according to a step-by-step recipe with photos

4 servings

30 minutes

39 kcal

5/5 (1)

Today I invite you to get acquainted with one of the traditional dishes of Italy - Minestrone soup, which means “big soup”. It's big not because there's a lot of it, but because it uses a lot of different vegetables.

One of the secrets of delicious Minestrone is that Italians use only seasonal vegetables in preparation. There are no special and clear rules for preparing this soup, but I will share a few more secrets with you. Let's get started!

Kitchen utensils and appliances: kitchen stove or hob, 3-4 liter saucepan, spoon, ladle, grater, cutting board, knife.

Ingredients

Step-by-step preparation

1. Place the prepared 1 liter of broth in a saucepan to heat up on the fire. Next, prepare each ingredient one by one and send it to boil in a low-boiling broth.

2. Wash and peel 1 carrot and 1 potato. We start with these ingredients, since they take the longest to cook.

3. Cut the peeled vegetables into cubes and send them to boil in boiling broth.

4. We wash 3 stalks of celery with a total weight of 200 g and remove the thin skin from them. This can be easily done with a regular knife.

5. And also cut into squares.

6. Wash the leeks well under running water. We cut off the green and white parts on both sides, and use the remaining middle in cooking.

7. Once again we carefully check whether there is any soil left in the onion feathers.

8. Cut the prepared part into squares.

9. We also add 100-150 g of fresh or frozen green peas to the pan.

10. Wash the zucchini in running water. We only need half. Cut into squares and add to the broth to cook with the rest of the vegetables.

11. Add 0.5 cans of canned beans. If you have the opportunity, you can cook the beans for this soup in advance and then use them.

12. Wash and cut 1 tomato into squares.

13. Add 1 sprig of thyme and bay leaf. Leave the spices in the boiling soup for literally 5-7 minutes and then remove.

14. At this stage we can taste our soup and add salt to it to our taste and 1 tsp. Sahara. It is sugar that will help enhance the richness of taste and give softness to this dish.

15. When all the vegetables have boiled in the broth for about 5 minutes, add 1 tbsp. l. purchased or homemade pesto sauce. With the addition of sauce, not the classic one is brewed, but Genoese-style Minestrone. But I really like the taste of the dish with Pesto sauce, and you decide whether to add it or not based on your taste preferences.

16. Grate 30 g of parmesan on a fine grater. We put it in a separate bowl or saucer and serve it along with the soup.

17. Ready-made Minestrone soup is ready to serve!

How to decorate a dish and what to serve it with

Traditionally in Italy, this dish is served hot, with grated Parmesan. It is grated on a fine grater and placed in a separate bowl, and if you wish, you can take the required amount of cheese and add it to your soup. The cheese from a hot dish melts and the taste becomes even more piquant and rich.

Video recipe for making Minestrone soup

The video shows a step-by-step recipe and secrets of preparing Minestrone, and also reveals how to serve it exactly as in Italy.

Basic truths

• You can add boiled meat cut into squares to the soup to make it more satisfying. Also, some recipes allow you to add pasta or rice to this soup. You can do this too, when all the vegetables are almost ready, add what you like best. But keep in mind that in Minestrone the noodles swell and fall apart very quickly, so it is better to cook this soup at once.
• You cannot cook such a dish with the addition of bouillon cubes, they will kill all the aroma and taste of the prepared soup.
• It is not allowed to prepare this dish from frozen vegetables. The only exceptions may be green peas and beans.
• All ingredients in the soup should be cut into cubes of the same size, and they should be neither large nor small. Since in the first case the vegetables will not be saturated with the aroma of the soup, but in the other they will turn into puree.
• Feel free to go beyond the suggested ingredients list and use as many seasonal or your favorite vegetables as possible.

If at any time you decide to cook traditional European dishes, I recommend you try the French dish - onion soup. It is not necessary to change the “insides” of the soup; you can try to change its base and prepare “chicken broth soup.” Cooked beef soup will also be very useful for both small and older family members. A very healthy dish with a delicate taste is obtained by preparing cauliflower puree soup.

All people love and appreciate their national dishes, and we prepare them every day. But over time, interest awakens, and we ask ourselves: what interesting things are our neighbors preparing? First, we ask this question at home, asking our neighbors, and then we “go out” onto the world stage. And now there are more and more housewives who want to master more and more new culinary techniques and learn how to cook unfamiliar dishes. Although this all happens, probably, so that we can delight our loved ones and loved ones with delicious and unusual dishes every day.

Delight your loved ones with delicious and healthy soups. And share your cooking secrets with me in the comments. Bon appetit!