A Soup For All Seasons

Hey friends, welcome back! Glad to have you with me again. Apologies, blah blah blah, long absence, blah blah blah, life etc. Anyways, I hope all of you have been holding up well, getting vaccinated and are dealing okay with a scorcher of a summer.

Speaking of summer weather, today’s dish may seem like a bit of an odd choice, but as the title says, it really is a soup for all seasons. Of course, I’m talking about one of Italy’s most famous soups: Minestrone.

This one is closer to a Romagna-style minestrone if any classic version at all. As we’ve discussed before, classical Italian dishes have numerous dos and don’ts, upheld by tradition if nothing else. Some say pasta doesn’t belong in a minestrone. Others say the liquid must be vegetable broth or water so as not to overpower the delicate vegetables. Some will even say without potatoes or cabbage or this or that, it may be a vegetable soup, but it’s certainly not a minestrone.

Here’s what I say: who in the hell cares? Do you like pasta in your soup? Throw it in! Is a certain vegetable you love in season? In it goes! You wanna leave a certain ingredient out? Do you, sis, do you. What matters is that you follow the method and spirit of the minestrone. To make each vegetable shine enough that the soup becomes greater than the sum of its parts. As Marcella Hazan said: “A soup of dense, mellow flavour that recalls no vegetable in particular, but all of them at once.”

So, with that in mind, we set out to make a summertime minestrone, with some of the best of what early-to-mid summer has to offer. But, keep in mind that whenever you’re making a soup like this, the season should dictate the ingredients. Autumn soups would have butternut squash, kale and heartier herbs. A winter minestrone may omit the tomatoes and instead feature turnips and potatoes. And a springtime minestrone would showcase the delicate bounty of the season, with just-cooked peas, asparagus and ramps floating in the broth.

This is how you make a dish like this your own, by adding the best of what’s in season and what you love the most. A minestrone is a forgiving, patient soup. Add your vegetables one by one, cutting the next as the previous slowly cooks and softens. Stay near the soup, watching and smelling it develop. That’s what dishes like this are all about.

A final note: I know it’s a heatwave and for some of you hot soup sounds about as appealing as Doug Ford running for re-election. This soup is delightful at room temp, or even slightly chilled. It may thicken as it sits, so for re-heating add a splash of stock if needed.

Summer Minestrone

Ingredients:

• Extra virgin olive oil, as needed
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 medium yellow onions, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 bay leaves, fresh if possible
• 6 sprigs of thyme, fresh
• 4.7g (1 tsp) tomato paste
• 710mL (3 cups) chicken stock
• 1 Parmesan rind *optional, only if you have one kicking around*
• 1 leek, white and light green only, washed, quartered and finely chopped
• 227g (1/2lb) green beans, stems snapped off, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 medium zucchini, scrubbed and finely chopped
• 1 796mL can whole Roma tomatoes
• 1 458mL can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 250g (0.55lb) Stellette pasta (De Cecco)

Method:

1. In a large, heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven, heat a film of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and a pinch of salt, letting the vegetables slowly soften, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
2. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves to the pot. Stir to mix and let cook 4-5 minutes longer, adjusting the heat if necessary so the garlic doesn’t burn.
3. Move all the vegetables to one side of the vessel and add the tomato paste directly onto the exposed cooking surface of the pot. Allow the tomato paste to cook and caramelize for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the chicken stock, stir to combine everything and raise the heat to medium high. Bring the soup to a simmer.
5. Once simmering add the Parmesan rind if using, the leeks and the green beans. Allow the pot to return to a simmer.
6. Stir in the zucchini, then add the canned tomatoes with their juices. Add half a tomato can worth of water. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, begin to break up the tomatoes as the pot returns to the simmer. Continues simmering and crushing the tomatoes for 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile bring a small pot of heavily salted water to the boil over high heat. Once boiling, add the beans to the soup and the pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta to the factory-directed time, then drain and toss with a drizzle of olive oil.
8. Taste the soup for seasoning. The vegetables should be cooked but not mushy and the beans should be heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Spoon some of the pasta into serving bowls and ladle the soup on top. Either enjoy immediately, or wait to cool slightly.

This is as much technique as recipe. Any multi-ingredient, big vegetable soup can be made this way, just remember what I said about using the best seasonal ingredients you can get your hands on. Don’t add everything all at once, think a little. The things that benefit from longer cooking should go in first, while delicate or green vegetables go in closer towards the end of cooking.

Is this something you guys are down to try, or will you be waiting until things cool off to get the soup pot going? Let me know in the comments below, or shoot me an email. Until next time, hopefully sooner than this time! Ciao friends!