Winter Minestrone

When it’s cold and snowy there’s nothing better than a big bowl of soup. This veggie-packed winter minestrone with potatoes, spinach, cauliflower and beans will warm you up!

 

Winter Minestrone

Minestrone is a tricky thing – is there a singular authentic recipe? Sharing a beloved, classic dish worries me sometimes – what if I step on someone’s toes due to a horrible culinary crime of substituting ingredients? So I turned to research in my paranoid state and learned, after reviewing many recipes from trusted sources, that minestrone recipes are sort of like snowflakes – no two are alike. However, the common thread among all is that minestrone is a smart (and delicious!) way to use up whatever odds and ends are hanging around the kitchen.

In the last year or so I’ve taken to making small batches of soup but this minestrone freezes well so it’s worth making a big o’ batch to have on hand through the cold months. I followed advice from two different places – Rao’s Cookbook by Frank Pellegrino ( a compilation of recipes from the famed New York City Italian restaurant) and Hunter Gatherer Angler Cook, the James Beard award-winning food blog created by Hank Shaw. From Rao’s, I got the basic proportions and I borrowed Hank’s idea to puree the pancetta, which results in a subtle pork flavor and a thicker, velvetier soup texture that you wouldn’t otherwise get just using stock alone.

Some Ingredients You’ll Need

• Look for packages of diced pancetta in the deli section at the grocery store. It’s usually sold in 4-ounce packages and for this recipe, you’ll need 3 packages for a total of 12 ounces. After you render the pork fat transfer the cooked pancetta to a food processor and pulse it until it breaks down and turns into a paste. You will add it back to the pan where it will melt into the soup lending a porky flavor without chunks of meat in the soup.
• Carrots, onion, and celery cook in the pork fat left behind in the pan by the pancetta. From there you add potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, vegetable stock, and water. I also added a few sprigs of fresh thyme.
• After the veggies have simmered for 45 minutes add the cannellini beans, kidney beans, chopped fresh spinach, and fresh parsley. Simmer the soup for another 15 minutes.
• I like to top the bowls of minestrone soup with a generous sprinkle of grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese. For the leftover soup, I let it cool and divided it into freezer-safe containers. It keeps well in the freezer for two to three months.

Happy soup-making!

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. This post was first published in January 2016. The photos and post have been updated, but the recipe is the same.

More Winter Soup Recipes

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Instant Pot Black Bean Soup

Hearty Sausage Soup

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