Minestrone Soup could very well be Italian for "belly full of yummy." Actually it's apparently it's just Italian for "soup." Minestrone soups vary widely from kitchen to kitchen. They generally are vegetable based with some tomato and often have pasta and/or beans as well. But really this is a soup that you can really tailor to your liking. Today's recipe might not be one that you would want to want to follow to the tee. I'm going to be selling soup at the winter farmers market and I've been practicing making big pots of different kinds of soup. So this recipe will make you a hefty 8 qts of soup. That might be a bit much if you're going to be settling down to a cozy dinner with the honey. But, if you, like me, like to make large batches of soup to save some for later, I recommend cooking the pasta separately in some broth and add it when you're going to eat the soup. That way you don't get the little pieces of "previously pasta mush" when you go to reheat it (unless you're into that kind of thing).
When I was a kid, one of my favorite soups was Progresso's Minestrone. I recently tried it again and I'm pleased to say that palate has matured a bit in adulthood. But, I still decided to base my minestrone off my fond memories of that soup. That meant both white beans and pasta were a must. But for the rest I just took stock of what I had.
I recently made a veggie broth that featured the carrot peels from my adventures in carrot ginger soup (that recipe will soon make it's debut). This broth also had a bunch of late season tomatoes in it (among many, many other things), so the broth ended up being sort of sweet and tangy. Very delicious for minestrone.
I also decided to use celeriac in this soup, as it's a root I haven't used much and I'd like to get used to it. It kind of looks like something your (very large) cat hacked up, but it's got a great sweet, mellow celery flavor and made a wonderful addition to this soup.
I also realized at the end that I ended up adding very little salt.Only 2 tsp for 8 qts of soup. Celeriac is rich in sodium and the broth already had some, so those two tsp aren't the only contributors, but overall this soup is so flavorful that you just don't need much sodium at all.
I've had some hot Italian all-beef sausage from Applecheek Farm in my freezer for quite a while and I'd never quite found a good use for it. This soup was entirely what I had been waiting for. Without the sausage this soup is vegetarian, but if you are a sausage fan, throwing in some hot Italian at the end (or even leaving it in a bowl on the table for those who choose to partake), will truly make this dish a belly full of yummy.
A (huge) pot of Minestrone
3 medium yellow onions, sliced
1 medium celariac root, medium dice
3 large carrots, medium dice
1 medium head of garlic, cloves sliced
2 tsp salt
1 tbs olive oil
16 cups vegetable broth
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes (or several fresh tomatoes if it's the season)
1 bunch of kale, rough chopped
1 14 oz cans of Navy Beans
16 oz pasta (I like elbow or penne and because I try to keep everything whole grain, I use Bionature's whole wheat pastas)
black pepper to taste
1) Saute the onions, celeriac, carrots and garlic with the olive and the salt over medium high heat until the carrots and celeriac start to soften, stirring regularly.
2) Add the vegetable broth, tomatoes, and kale and turn the temperature to high. Bring the soup to a low boil and cook until the carrots and celeriac are soft.
3) Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Add the beans and cook for several minutes more. Add salt & pepper to taste and enjoy!