Minestrone
Healthy and nourishing
Servings: 8
Preparation: 30 min.
Cooking: 2h 30min
Difficulty: 
Ingredients

1 Leek

1 clove of garlic

1 handful Beet tops

1 handful spinach

3 leaves Savoy cabbage

3 carrots

2 celery stalks

3 potatoes (about 450 gr/15,8 oz)

2 zucchini (courgettes)

460 gr (16,4 oz) Unpeeled pumpkin / 300 gr (10,5 oz) flesh

170 gr (6 oz) beans

150 gr (5,3 oz) peas

200 gr (70 oz) green beans

Salt

Extra virgin olive oil

4 l. (135 fl.oz.) water

method

1
2

1 - Rinse carefully all vegetables peeling carrots, potatoes and zucchini.

2 - Trim off the tops of green beans, carrots and zucchini. Remove the seeds of the pumpkin and peel it.

3
4

3 - Peel the garlic clove and remove its heart.

4 - Cut leek, garlic, carrots, celery, zucchini, green beans and pumpkin into small cubes. Cut one of the three potatoes into chunks, keep the other two whole.

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6

5 - Cut off the stems of beet tops and the central stem of Savoy cabbage.

6 - Put all vegetables in a large pot 20 cm (8 inches) high and with 28 cm (11 inches) diameter and pour water,

7
8

7 - Add a handful of coarse sea salt and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Cover the pot and set to boil over high heat. Then reduce the heat to medium and simmer about 2 hours.

8 - One hour later, take the two whole potatoes out of the pot and put them in a dish. Mash them with a fork and put them again in the pot and continue simmering.

9

9 - Serve the minestrone with reggiano and extra virgin olive oil to taste. If you want to taste the real minestrone you can add rice 15/20 minutes before serving or ditalini 10 minutes before serving.

Useful Suggestions

You can prepare minestrone in abundance. The day after, it shall be even better when reheated. Any day-old leftover (with no pasta or rice) can be processed in a blender so as to obtain a cream to be heated and served with bread croutons fried with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, garlic and pepper to taste.