Minestrone: how to cook a delicious and easy Italian soup? Minestrone - a classic Italian vegetable soup
Authentic Italian minestrone is a thick rustic soup of seasonal vegetables with pasta, parmesan and basil crumbled into it when served. Sometimes pieces of ham are added to the minestrone - prosciutto. Or use rice instead of pasta, and pesto instead of parmesan.
From region to region of Italy, the set of vegetables in the minestrone recipe can change: be richer - with the inclusion of asparagus or dry beans, fennel, celery and a long list of Mediterranean diet vegetables, or light. And a set of herbs, of course. But that's not the point. The essence of minestrone is in the technology of cooking vegetables - their unhurried frying, followed by partial pureing. This makes the soup very thick and flavorful.
Minestrone is one of those recipes where understanding the nuances is important, and the result is such that it is better to cook and try once than tell ten times.
Preparation time: 25 minutes/ Cooking time: 1 hour/ Servings: 6 pcs.
Ingredients
To make Minestrone, you will need:
- zucchini zucchini 300g
- onion 100g
- potatoes 150g
- carrot 70g
- tomatoes 200g
- Bulgarian pepper 150g
- small pasta 50g
- garlic 1 clove
- hard cheese 20g
- olive oil 7 tbsp
- water 1250 ml
- salt 2 tsp
Cooking
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It is customary to make vegetable cuts for minestrone miniature, all pieces are approximately the same size - a little more than a pea, and this is not a whim, but a technology: finely chopped vegetables absorb olive oil well when frying and do not lose their shape when cooked. In addition, due to the size, they cook quickly. Thoroughly fried, with a preserved crust, pieces of vegetables that have not lost their juiciness when stewing are the goal of the first stage of preparing minestrone.
Cut the onion and carrot into small cubes. In order to somehow designate the bell pepper in the soup (let's make an exception for the pepper), we cut it not into cubes, but into thin strips. The soup will become much more elegant if you use bell peppers of different colors.
Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, remove the seeds and cut into small pieces. If your zucchini is mature enough and the skin has already turned stale, it is best to peel it off so that there are no coarse fibers in the soup.
Ripe tomatoes are peeled and cut into small slices, during frying they will release juice and lose their shape, so the size of the slices is not so important.
Potatoes need to be washed, peeled and cut into small even cubes. While we are roasting vegetables, I advise you to soak the potatoes in cold water.
When heating 5 tablespoons of oil in a deep-bottomed pan, make sure that the oil does not get too hot, especially if you are using refined olive oil. Minestrone vegetables should be sautéed over low heat, so once the oil is hot, add the chopped carrots and onions and fry, stirring for about 5 minutes, until the onions become translucent.
Add bell pepper and garlic, cut into thin slices, into the pan and continue to fry, stirring for about 5 minutes. The combination of onions, garlic, peppers and carrots with olive oil fills the kitchen with the unique flavor of the vegetable season.
Add chopped zucchini to the vegetables in the pan, pour in another 2 tbsp. olive oil and continue to fry over low heat for 15 minutes.
We spread the chopped tomatoes in the pan and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes, during which time all the slices of zucchini will already become transparent.
Put the fried vegetables in a bowl. Some cooks prepare minestrone in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, in which they fry vegetables, and then pour water over them and continue to boil the soup.
Pour vegetables with 1250 ml of cold water, so that they do not lose their bright colors, and bring to a boil. We will also cook the soup on a slow fire.
When the soup boils, add salt and run the prepared potatoes. Despite the fact that the potatoes are finely chopped, it is better to cook them for 15-20 minutes, for a richer soup.
Remember, I wrote that minestrone is a soup that consists of half blended vegetables? Right now it's time to knead most of them and keep the smaller part unchanged so that the soup remains textured, not pureed. We take out a small part of boiled vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside for a while.
Blend the remaining vegetables in the broth with an immersion blender until smooth. Just don't try to turn them into semolina! Let the pieces not crushed to the end remain, nothing terrible will happen. The main thing in this action is the effect: interpenetration, mixing of tastes.
Bring the soup to a boil and start the small pasta. For soups, Italians use miniature pasta - horns, stars, shells. I broke the rule a little and sent not very small heart-shaped pasta to the soup. But it's beautiful! Cook the pasta for 2-3 minutes, and that's it. Having insisted, they will certainly reach full readiness.
How is minestrone served? Cheese, basil, pesto - all this is served on a plate. Or put on the table, where everyone is free or not free to supplement the minestrone with flavors himself.
Italian cuisine has firmly and reliably entered our lives. True, somehow one-sided, mostly pizzas, pasta and lasagna. But in the culinary of the country-"boot" there are a lot of great soups, first of all - minestrone. This dish is almost the most beloved in their homeland: Italians, unlike most Europeans, respect hearty lunches, not dinners. Moreover, it can be both light, and very satisfying, and in the form of mashed potatoes, and the usual first. Classic minestrone soup is prepared in a variety of ways. In fact, every housewife has her own recipe. But whichever you choose, anyone will be approved by you and your loved ones.
Step by step video recipe
The Italian names of dishes indicate exactly what is meant by them. So, minestra is just a soup, minestrina is its light version, and minestrone is a thick, rich version. And not necessarily the density is achieved by pureeing, just put as many components as possible into the dish. And be sure to minestrone must be beautiful, otherwise you will get, though tasty, but the most ordinary vegetable soup.
General rules
Initially, the classic minestrone was prepared for a very long time - up to six hours. In the process, the vegetables boiled down almost to the state of mashed potatoes. Modern rhythms of life and equipment that facilitates cooking have reduced the time to three hours, or even less - after all, it is not difficult to obtain a porridge-like consistency with a blender. However, a few rules are still observed today.
- Vegetables put in the minestrone are fried, and in many cases also pre-stewed.
- Minestrone is a seasonal dish. You should not scrupulously follow the recipe and use expensive, but winter bell peppers full of chemistry. You can take something more natural.
- Beans must be present in the soup. It can be peas, beans or chickpeas. Of course, preference should be given to fresh ones, but if they are not available, the beans are soaked in advance.
- If you are interested in real minestrone soup, the classic recipe advises to grind some of the vegetables, and leave some in pieces: the density will be sufficient, and whole slices will add beauty and richness.
- Pasta is taken exclusively hard varieties.
- Lots of greenery is a must!
In a classic minestrone, there should be at least a dozen different vegetables. It is not always possible to diversify the ingredients so much, but you will have to “get” at least 6-7 types.
Delicious minestrone: recipe with photo
We proceed from the fact that we only have dry beans in stock. A glass of beans is poured overnight with water, and the next morning it is boiled for two hours, until completely soft. The unevaporated water is drained. For a head of romaine and radicchio, a large sweet pepper and a blue onion are coarsely chopped and boiled for a quarter of an hour. The broth is strained, the vegetables are pureed. The onion is cut finely, the carrot is rubbed; roasting is made from them. Greens - parsley, chives and dill - are chopped. A 200-gram head of camembert is cut into cubes. Vegetable puree is put into two liters of broth; after it boils, frying and beans are introduced. Minestrone is brought to a boil again, after which cheese and herbs are added. Almost immediately after stirring, the pan is covered and removed from the heat. A quarter of an hour of insisting - and dinner is ready.
Classic with bacon
Do not forget that minestrone is a very “democratic” soup, and among the recipes you can find one that suits everyone. Including those who prefer meat dishes. Minestrone is especially delicious with bacon. To create it, 100 grams of bacon are cut into cubes and stewed in vegetable (preferably olive) oil. When the "lard" starts up fat, chopped two onions and a garlic clove are poured. As the frying turns golden, it is transferred to a saucepan and supplemented with chopped four stalks of celery, medium zucchini, one hundred grams of fresh beans, two tomatoes, asparagus (about 4 pieces) and bell peppers - one red is taken for beauty, the other is yellow. Without adding liquid, the vegetables are stewed until softened, after which one and a half liters of broth or hot water is poured in, and cooking continues for another 20 minutes. Shortly before turning off the stove, the minestrone is flavored with chopped chili peppers, salt and any herbs.
Minestrone with pasta
Everyone knows how Italians love pasta. Not surprisingly, minestrone soup is also prepared with them. The classic recipe with pasta is brought to life in several stages:
- A larger leek and two celery stalks are cut into thin slices.
- Two carrots are cut into strips.
- Medium-sized zucchini is cut into small cubes.
- All components are added to a large saucepan, half a glass of green beans and three tablespoons of olive oil are added to them.
- The container is placed on the fire; when it starts to hiss, it is closed with a lid, the fire is screwed on. Extinguishing is carried out for 15 minutes, with occasional shaking.
- Water or broth is added, about one and a half liters, a can of canned tomatoes, thyme, pepper, fresh basil and herbs - and again under the lid for half an hour.
- The final touch is a can of canned beans along with juice and. paste.
After ten minutes of cooking, the soup is poured into bowls, flavored with grated cheese and chopped parsley and eaten hot.
Minestrone soup is a legend in Italian cuisine. There it is considered a national and already a classic dish. And it may well compete for popularity with pizza, risotto or pasta.
So why did this soup with an unusual name deserve such popularity?
Minestrone (Italian Minestrone, that is, "big soup") is a soup with many ingredients. If the Italian language had the expression "porridge from an ax", then this is exactly what they would say about this soup.
It is quite simple to prepare, does not require exquisite ingredients, and most importantly - incredibly tasty and healthy!
The standard set of vegetables usually includes tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, but in general the minestrone is a field for experimentation.
Tip: according to the rules of classic recipes, all vegetables should be cut approximately the same - into small pieces. This is necessary so that the vegetables absorb the juices better and at the same time do not lose their shape.
The classic minestrone cannot exist without ingredients such as bacon and cheese, and therefore cannot be called dietary. But those who follow their figure or want to lose weight will not have to deny themselves the pleasure of trying minestrone soup, as there are many lighter variations of it. Moreover, there are excellent diets where only this soup is consumed! They are effective not only for quick weight loss, but also very healthy!
How to cook minestrone soup - 15 varieties
This recipe is inspired by the classic minestrone. The peculiarity of the traditional minestrone lies in the technology of preparation.
What you need:
- zucchini 300g
- onion 100g
- potatoes 150g
- carrot 70g
- tomatoes 200g
- Bulgarian pepper 150g
- small pasta 50g
- 1 garlic clove
- hard cheese 20g
- olive oil 7 tbsp
- water 1250 ml
- salt 2 tsp
Cooking:
Carrots, onions cut into small cubes. Straw pepper. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, peel and remove the seeds. Blanch the tomatoes. Cut into small slices. Cut potatoes into cubes. Heat the oil in a frying pan (not hot). Fry onions and carrots for 5 minutes. The onion should become translucent. Cut the garlic into thin slices. Add bell pepper and garlic to them. Fry for another 5 minutes. Send the zucchini to the pan. At this stage, you need to add another 2 tablespoons to the vegetables. olive oil. Fry 15 minutes. Add tomatoes. Cook everything, stirring, 5 minutes.
Now we transfer the vegetables to the pan. Fill with water, be sure to cold (quantity indicated in the recipe). Bring to a boil over low heat. Salt. Send potatoes to the pan. Cook with potatoes for about 15 minutes. Now the main point of this recipe. It is necessary to puree some of the vegetables.
A few vegetables need to be removed from the soup with a slotted spoon, but not mashed, but rather put them aside. And grind everything that is left in the pan with an immersion blender until smooth. Connect vegetables. Bring the soup to a boil again, add small pasta. Cook for 2 minutes. The soup is ready!
Serve with cheese, pesto or basil. As you like!
This recipe is not quite classic, one of the variations of minestrone.
We will need:
- 2 small carrots
- 1 sweet green pepper
- 9 small tomatoes
- 100 g parmesan or other grated cheese
- 300 gr canned white beans
- 150 gr large pasta
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- vegetable broth
- Vegetable oil
- Salt, pepper to taste
Cooking method:
Peel and wash the carrots, grate on a coarse grater. Pepper cut into cubes. Blanch the tomatoes. This can be done as follows: make cross-shaped cuts on them, then pour boiling water over them, literally for one minute, and transfer them to very cold water. After that, the skin can be easily removed. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Fry peppers and carrots in vegetable oil for about 5 minutes. Then add tomatoes to them. Simmer another 5-7 minutes. In the meantime, grate Parmesan (or any other hard cheese) on a coarse grater.
Bring vegetable broth to a boil. Add stewed vegetables to it. Followed by white beans and pasta. Boil for 10 minutes. Add vinegar and Parmesan. Mix well. You can submit!
Everyone loves Italian food, world famous chefs are no exception. A unique opportunity to cook minestrone soup according to the author's recipe. It will turn out no worse than a dish in a restaurant!
Ingredients (for 8 servings):
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1 zucchini
- 1 red onion
- 1 medium potato
- 1 can of canned beans (400 g)
- 2 carrots
- 2 celery stalks
- 4 large tomatoes
- 2 pieces of bacon
- 100 g pasta
- ½ bunch basil
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 l vegetable broth
- 1 garlic clove
- green onion
- Olive oil
Cooking:
All vegetables must be cleaned. Cut tomatoes, carrots, celery and zucchini into large pieces. Potatoes in medium cubes. Onion and garlic in small cubes. Bacon also cut into small cubes. Pour 2 tbsp into the bottom of a large saucepan. olive oil and put on heat. When the oil is hot, add the bacon. Fry for about 2 minutes. When bacon is golden, add garlic, onion, carrot, celery, zucchini. After that, simmer everything together for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Add to them potatoes, beans (pre-drain the liquid), tomatoes.
Tip: Soak potatoes in cold water beforehand.
Pour in the broth. Mix everything. Mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon until smooth. Then cook for about half an hour under the lid after boiling. Willingness to check on potatoes. Now you need to do green onions - remove the stems and chop. Add it and pasta to the pot. Boil everything for 10 minutes. Then check the readiness of the pasta, if ready, turn it off. Now add the basil leaves and stir the soup. Season also with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with parmesan and basil.
Delicious, hearty, homemade minestrone. What could be better?!
Ingredients:
- Bacon 100 g
- Fennel 1 piece
- Large onion 1 pc
- Celery stalks 4 pcs
- Garlic 3 cloves
- Red bell pepper 1 pc
- Carrot 1 pc
- Zucchini 1 pc
- Potato
- Tomatoes 5 pcs
- Green peas 100 g
- Tomato juice 1 l
- White beans 100 g
- Basil or other herbs
- grated parmesan
- Olive oil
Cooking:
If using fresh beans, soak them first, then boil them. Finely chop all vegetables, including bacon. Cut fennel and celery into cubes. Fry bacon, add onion, celery. Fry. Add garlic, passed through a press. Leave to stew. Cut all other vegetables into cubes.
Tip: You can puree half of the vegetables if you like.
Blanch the tomatoes. Grind carrots in a blender, then tomatoes. Add all remaining vegetables to the pot. Add tomato juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Salt, pepper. Add beans. Add boiling water. Boil 5 minutes. Sprinkle with parmesan and herbs when serving.
This is a recipe for an easy and healthy green spring Italian soup.
For cooking:
- Onion 1 head
- Garlic 3 cloves
- Celery 4 stalks
- Potato 1 pc
- Green asparagus 400 g
- Parmesan 120 g
- Green beans 300 g
- Canned white beans 1 can
- Vegetable broth 1.5 l
- Frozen peas 300 g
- Chopped basil 2 tbsp
- Chopped parsley 2 tbsp
- Green basil 2 stalks
Cooking:
Drain the liquid from the can of beans. Remove the rough ends from the asparagus, cut it into pieces 1 cm long. Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Grate the parmesan. In a frying pan, heat 4 tbsp. olive oil. Cut fresh green beans in the same way as asparagus. Add finely chopped onion, garlic, celery, cut crosswise into 0.5 cm thick pieces, and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft. Send diced potatoes, 2/3 asparagus and green beans and grated Parmesan to them and simmer for about 5 minutes. Along with the white beans, add the broth, bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Put the remaining asparagus and frozen peas (without defrosting) into the soup and cook for about 6-8 minutes. At the end, sprinkle with herbs.
Serving: basil leaves, parmesan. Serve with garlic bread or garlic toast.
Tip: To keep the rich green color, it's important not to overcook the soup.
Homemade soup recipe from the chef. Designed for one serving, as it is prepared in a restaurant from under the knife. But you can always count the number of ingredients for a larger volume, and cook at least a whole pan. It will turn out very tasty!
For 1 serving:
- 200 ml vegetable broth
- 10 g of each type of vegetable, diced: onion, cabbage, zucchini, celery, carrot, pumpkin, potato.
- 10 g beans
- 10 g leek
- 10 g fennel
- 10 g green peas
- 8 g broccoli
- 5 g spinach
- 3 g basil
- olive oil
Cooking:
We add vegetables to the broth in the following sequence: potatoes, fennel, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, onions, celery, leeks, beans, cabbage, green peas, broccoli.
Tip: If the squash or zucchini you are using is quite mature and the skin on it is stale, it is better to remove it so that the consistency of the soup is more uniform.
Chop the basil and add to the soup. Cook over low heat for no more than 15 minutes. When serving the dish, add a couple of drops of olive oil.
Minestrone with broccoli - a delicious recipe
The options for making minestrone soup are many - it's not necessary to make the traditional version when there are so many unusual recipes.
This recipe is one of those.
Ingredients:
- Broccoli - 500 gr
- Tomatoes - 500 gr
- Sausages for baking - 250 gr
- Onion - 1 piece medium
- Shell pasta - 1 cup
- Olive oil
- Parmesan cheese
- Pepper
- Vegetable or chicken broth
- Mix of dried Italian herbs
Cooking:
Saute sausage mince with Italian herbs and onions in olive oil. Bring a liter of broth and a liter of water together to a boil. Salt. Boil pasta until half cooked. Divide the broccoli into florets, and cut the legs into small cubes. Send to the pan along with the fried minced meat. Blanch the tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut into small pieces. Add to soup. Cook everything over low heat until the broccoli softens. Grate the cheese. Add when serving. Bon appetit!
Its peculiarity is that one of the components is lentils, and celery is also added.
Ingredients:
- Sweet pepper 200 g
- Broccoli 200 g
- Celery 200 g
- Lentil 150
- Carrot 200
- Bulb onion 200 g
- Fresh tomatoes or in their own juice - 400 g
- Olive oil 40 g
- Bouillon cubes 4 pcs.
- Hard cheese 50 g
- Water 2 l
Cooking:
The recipe is prepared in a slow cooker, but you can cook in a saucepan.
Cut all vegetables except broccoli into small cubes. In the multicooker, set the "frying" mode. Pour vegetable oil. Send onions, carrots, celery, peppers, tomatoes (if using fresh ones) there. Mix. Fry for about 15 minutes (until the end of the frying program). Add tomatoes in their own juice (if using fresh ones, see above), lentils and broccoli, disassembled into inflorescences. We send them bouillon cubes. To fill with water. Then cook on the program "Soup". Cooking will take about 40 minutes. Salt to taste. Can be served on the table.
At the beginning of the article, we mentioned that there are special diets, the main component of which is this soup.
Here is one example of a diet version.
For 2-2.5 liters of water:
- Onion 3 pcs
- 3 green onion feathers,
- Half a small head of cabbage (savoy is best),
- celery root with herbs
- bell pepper 2 pcs
- celery root 1pc
- 2-3 tbsp. l. tomato puree or tomato
Cooking:
Finely chop the peeled vegetables, dip them into a boiling broth (lightly salted and non-fat, cubes can be used). Boil under the lid for 10 minutes, add tomato puree. The soup should boil for another 5 minutes. All is ready!
Advice Only fresh minestrone gives the effect, so you need to cook it daily.
You can fast with pleasure when you know the recipe for lean minestrone.
We will need:
- (for 3 servings)
- 1 zucchini
- 1 tomato
- 1 eggplant
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 potato
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Greenery
- dry basil
Process:
We clean potatoes and carrots. Cut all vegetables into small cubes. Blanch the tomato. In vegetable oil, fry onions, garlic, peppers, carrots, zucchini, eggplant. We clean the tomato, cut it and send it to the vegetables. Add tomato paste. In parallel, boil water in a saucepan, put the potatoes, cook for 10 minutes. We transfer the contents of the pan to the pan, cook for another 17 minutes. Add finely chopped greens and dry basil, then remove from heat. Bon appetit!
It is not necessary to give up potatoes if you are on a diet. This recipe is proof of that.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cabbage
- ½ zucchini
- 100 grams fresh green peas
- carrot
- 3-4 stalks of green onions
- parsley and dill
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 pcs. young potatoes
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 3 liters of water
- olive oil
Cooking:
Pour a few tablespoons of vegetable oil into the pan, add chopped garlic and onion. Fry over low heat. Now, pour water, pour salt, put chopped potatoes and carrots into the soup. Boil up to 20 minutes.
Add chopped zucchini, cabbage, green peas and leave to cook for another 15 minutes.
Council Peas can be replaced with young beans, asparagus. Herbs and roots can be taken dried. And if the diet is not strict, you can also add vermicelli.
Unusual recipe. Kale brings a unique flavor and benefit to minestrone soup.
Ingredients:
- 1 red onion
- A couple of cloves of garlic
- 1 small carrot
- 2 medium sweet peppers
- 100-150 g frozen green peas
- 150 g white beans
- small cauliflower
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1 eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 chili pepper
- 1 small tomato
- 50 g small pasta
- 100 g kale
Cooking:
Finely chop the onion, fry in olive oil in a saucepan. Finely chop the garlic, add to the onion. Carrot cut into small cubes. Add to saucepan. Remove the core from the peppers, cut into small cubes. Also send to vegetables. Pour everything with water (about 3 liters). Pour peas, beans, cabbage (disassemble into inflorescences). Cut potatoes, zucchini, eggplant into cubes, send to soup. Cut the tomato into medium pieces, chili pepper into rings. Put in soup. Salt. Mix. Cook no more than 5 minutes after boiling. Add paste. Add kale at the very end. Boil 1 minute.
This recipe is suitable for those who do not like minestrone due to the lack of meat.
Ingredients:
- Zucchini 1 pc
- Carrot 2 pcs
- Onion 1-2 pcs
- Garlic 2-3 cloves
- Potato 2 pcs
- Small pasta 50 g
- For meatballs:
- Smoked chicken breast 300-400 g
- Cheese 100-150 g
- White bread 2 slices
- Yolk 1-2 pcs
Cooking:
Cut all vegetables into small cubes. Mince the garlic. For meatballs: Pre-soak the bread in water, squeeze. Finely chop the chicken breast. Grate the cheese coarsely. Connect everything. Mix thoroughly. With wet hands form meatballs. Pour oil into a saucepan, heat it up. Put onion with garlic. Fry until transparent. Add potatoes and carrots. Fry, stirring for 7 minutes. Add zucchini. Cook for another 5 minutes. Pour water into the pan, boil. Salt, pepper, add dried herbs (optional). Boil 5 minutes. Add meatballs. Cook for about 3 more minutes. Add pasta. The soup should boil no more than 2 minutes. Turn off, let it brew.
A dish for real lovers of Italy. You have not tried such a minestrone yet!
Ingredients:
- 150 g pumpkin
- 1 small carrot
- 150 g celery root
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 stalk leek
- Olive oil
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 pack mini mozzarella
Cooking:
Cut the pumpkin into small cubes; carrots, celery, its stalk and leek - small. Pour into a saucepan, add a couple of tablespoons of oil. Mix with oil. Fry. Finely chop the garlic, chop the tomatoes. Transfer to a saucepan. Slightly stew, add 1.5 liters of broth. Salt, pepper.
Cut mozzarella in half. Turn off the soup. Arrange the mozzarella on plates, add a spoonful of pesto sauce if desired.
And finally, one more recipe for lovely ladies! But of course it's good for men too!
Minestrone with the addition of corn will help diversify the diet.
Ingredients:
- Sweet red bulb
- Pink tomatoes 100 g
- Young zucchini 100 g
- Green peas 50 g
- Sweet corn 50 g
- Soy sauce 3 tbsp
- Garlic 3 cloves
- Red sweet pepper 2 pcs
- Grape seed oil 4 tsp
- Water 1 l
Cooking:
Grease the bottom of an enameled pan with grapeseed oil. Peel the zucchini, cut into cubes. Onion cut into thin half rings. Finely chop the garlic. Peel the seeds from the pepper, divide it into thin slices. Put the vegetables in preheated oil (which is in the pan). Cook, stirring, until the onion and zucchini are browned. Wash corn and peas. Send to the pan with vegetables. Mix well. Blanch the tomatoes, remove the skin. Cut into 6 pieces. Mix with vegetable oil (preferably olive oil) to a puree. Add to saucepan. Pour in water and mix with soy sauce. Cook for 10 more minutes. Serve on the table, sprinkled with herbs. Bon appetit!!!
Tightly and securely entered our lives. True, somehow one-sided, mostly pizzas, pasta and lasagna. But in the culinary of the "boot" country there are a lot of great soups, first of all - minestrone. This dish is almost the most beloved in their homeland: Italians, unlike most Europeans, respect hearty lunches, not dinners. Moreover, it can be both light, and very satisfying, and in the form of mashed potatoes, and the usual first. classic is prepared in a variety of ways. In fact, every housewife has her own recipe. But whichever you choose, anyone will be approved by you and your loved ones.
What is hidden under the name
The Italian names of dishes indicate exactly what is meant by them. So, minestra is just a soup, minestrina is its light version, and minestrone is a thick, rich version. And not necessarily the density is achieved by pureeing, just put as many components as possible into the dish. And be sure the minestrone must be beautiful, otherwise you will get, though tasty, but the most ordinary
General rules
Initially, the classic minestrone was prepared for a very long time - up to six hours. In the process, the vegetables boiled down almost to the state of mashed potatoes. Modern and facilitating cooking equipment has reduced the time to three hours, or even less - after all, it is not difficult to obtain a porridge-like consistency with a blender. However, a few rules are still observed today.
- Vegetables put in the minestrone are fried, and in many cases also pre-stewed.
- Minestrone is a seasonal dish. You should not scrupulously follow the recipe and use expensive, but winter bell peppers full of chemistry. You can take something more natural.
- Beans must be present in the soup. It can be peas, beans or chickpeas. Of course, preference should be given to fresh ones, but if they are not available, the beans are soaked in advance.
- If you are interested in real minestrone soup, the classic recipe advises to grind some of the vegetables, and leave some in pieces: the density will be sufficient, and whole slices will add beauty and richness.
- Pasta is taken exclusively hard varieties.
- Lots of greenery is a must!
In a classic minestrone, there should be at least a dozen different vegetables. It is not always possible to diversify the ingredients so much, but you will have to “get” at least 6-7 types.
Delicious minestrone: recipe with photo
We proceed from the fact that we only have dry beans in stock. A glass of beans is poured overnight with water, and the next morning it is boiled for two hours, until completely soft. The unevaporated water is drained. For a head of romaine and radicchio, a large sweet pepper and a blue onion are coarsely chopped and boiled for a quarter of an hour. The broth is strained, the vegetables are pureed. The onion is cut finely, the carrot is rubbed; roasting is made from them. Greens - parsley, chives and dill - are chopped. A 200-gram head of camembert is cut into cubes. Vegetable puree is put into two liters of broth; after it boils, frying and beans are introduced. Minestrone is brought to a boil again, after which cheese and herbs are added. Almost immediately after stirring, the pan is covered and removed from the heat. A quarter of an hour of insisting - and dinner is ready.
Classic with bacon
Do not forget that minestrone is a very "democratic" soup, and among the recipes you can find one that suits everyone. Including those who prefer meat dishes. Minestrone is especially delicious with bacon. To create it, 100 grams of bacon are cut into cubes and stewed in vegetable (preferably olive) oil. When the "lard" starts up fat, chopped two onions and a garlic clove are poured. As the roast turns golden, it is transferred to a saucepan and supplemented with chopped four stalks of celery, medium zucchini, one hundred grams of fresh beans, two tomatoes, asparagus (about 4 pieces) and bell peppers - one red is taken for beauty, the other is yellow. Without adding liquid, the vegetables are stewed until softened, after which one and a half liters of broth or hot water is poured in, and cooking continues for another 20 minutes. Shortly before turning off the stove, the minestrone is flavored with chopped chili peppers, salt and any herbs.
Minestrone with pasta
Everyone knows how Italians love pasta. Not surprisingly, minestrone soup is also prepared with them. The classic recipe with pasta is brought to life in several stages:
- A larger leek and two celery stalks are cut into thin slices.
- Two carrots are cut into strips.
- Medium-sized zucchini is cut into small cubes.
- All components are added to a large saucepan, half a glass of green beans and three tablespoons of olive oil are added to them.
- The container is placed on the fire; when it starts to hiss, it is closed with a lid, the fire is screwed on. Extinguishing is carried out for 15 minutes, with occasional shaking.
- Water or broth is added, about one and a half liters, a can of canned tomatoes, thyme, pepper, fresh basil and herbs - and again under the lid for half an hour.
- The final touch is a can of canned beans along with juice and ... pasta.
After ten minutes of cooking, the soup is poured into bowls, flavored with grated cheese and chopped parsley and eaten hot.
Mushroom Italian soup
Another amazing minestrone! We will present the recipe with a photo and a detailed description of the cooking technology to your attention right now. So ... The hostesses will need to soak and cook half a glass of beans ahead of time. A two-liter pot of water is placed on the fire. While it boils, cut (not too large) potatoes, carrots, half a zucchini, eggplant and a large tomato, one hundred grams of fresh mushrooms, the same amount of pumpkin. All this is laid out in boiling water, supplemented with green beans and fresh peas (half a glass each), and after boiling, it is aged on the stove for a quarter of an hour. Then the onion is chopped into half rings, the garlic clove into slices, and a little white cabbage into straws. All this is poured into a saucepan, the soup is salted and flavored with spices: marjoram, basil, oregano, savory. After another 15 minutes, a small paste is poured - about half a glass, and a spoonful of olive oil is poured.
When the pasta is ready, the minestrone is immediately poured into portions, freshly prepared pesto sauce is added to it - and you can start dinner. Bright, fragrant and incredibly tasty soup will surely appeal to your loved ones. Bon appetit!
Minestrone is a thick Italian soup made from fresh, seasonal vegetables. There is no single correct recipe for the classic Minestrone, as the set of vegetables in the soup varies from region to region of Italy. Also, the set of vegetables changes during the season itself, since only seasonal vegetables are used to prepare Minestrone, which are available and cheap during this period.
But it should be noted some important features of the preparation of Minestrone soup. Vegetables are cut very finely and then slowly fried, which provides a special taste of this dish. Also an important feature of the classic Minestrone is that some of the vegetables are pureed, and this makes the soup very thick. It is also important that the composition of the classic Minestrone necessarily includes some legumes.
The more vegetables included in Minestrone, the better, but in a classic Minestrone they should not be less than 8. Vegetables for Minestrone should be finely chopped so that they absorb olive oil well during frying. The fire during frying should be minimal.
