The Last Days of Winter - A Hearty Minestrone

Minestrone

With winter taking its last gasps across Chicagoland, it seemed like a fine time to enjoy one last hearty soup for the season. Minestrone is one of those foods most will personalize to their own tastes. Here is my take – pretty basic. Butter and sage are the 2 keys in the recipe for me. It's better re-heated the second day.

This calls for a good bit of stock – it will reduce considerably. You get a lot of soup, which is great for leftovers, especially when made on a Sunday.

Time: 1 and 1/2 hours, mostly unattended

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

4 T butter                                            1 T tomato paste

1 chopped onion                                 1 potato, cubed

1 stalk chopped celery                       12 cups vegetable broth

1 large carrot, sliced                          3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 ½ cups kidney beans                       1 ½ cups (or 1 can) white (Cannellini) beans

½ cup shredded cabbage                   1 ½ t salt

2 cans stewed tomatoes                     2 T sage

pepper to taste                                   1 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Parmesan cheese                               1 zucchini, sliced
1 16 oz can tomato sauce

Process:

1. Melt butter. Saute onion, celery and carrots. After a few minutes, add garlic.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients (minus cheese,) bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat, cover, leaving a little room for steam to release. Simmer for just over an hour.
3. Add grated Parmesan cheese. Serve.

A note about the parsley. At about $2.00 a bunch, it is not cheap. However, you can freeze it for some time. Spray it down with water (not soaking, but damp.) Place in a plastic bag and keep in freezer. Not sure how long it will last, but a few weeks later will be fine. Not to mention, it is much easier to chop when frozen.

* pics? they were pretty lame.  Will get some up in the future.