Minestrone Alla Tucson CSA

I followed the classic technique from Marcella Hazan, but substituted for winter ingredients, and what we had in our shares. I love the direction “crust from a one to two pound piece of Parmesan, carefully scraped clean”.

For 6 to 8 servings as a first course, 4 to 6 as a main meal

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery (or chard stems)
• 2 cups peeled, diced rutabaga (or potato)
• 1 cup cauliflower floweret’s (optional-some do not care for their flavor in a mixed soup)
• 1 cup diced green beans (I had these frozen from August 2007, you may substitute frozen green peas)
• 3 cups finely sliced rapini leaves (minimize the use of stems and flowers)
• 6 cups homemade vegetable stock or 2 cups canned vegetable broth mixed with water
• The crust from a 1 or 2 pound piece of Parmesan cheese, carefully scraped clean (optional)
• 2/3 cup canned Italian tomatoes, with their juice
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan (optional)
• ¾ cup dried white beans, cooked in advance or one can white beans, drained and rinsed

Directions

Choose a stockpot large enough for all the ingredients. Put in the oil, butter, and sliced onion and cook over medium low heat until the onion is pale gold. Add the diced carrots and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Repeat this procedure with the celery (or chard stems), rutabaga (or potato), cauliflower, and green beans (but not the frozen peas), cooking each one a few minutes and stirring.

Then add the sliced rapini and cook for about 5 minutes, giving the pot an occasional stir.

Add the broth, the cheese crust, the tomatoes and their juice, and a little bit of salt. If you are using canned broth, go easy on the salt until you taste the finished product.

Cover and cook at a very slow boil for about one hour. It is still good if you only have 30 minutes, but the flavors meld and deepen with longer cooking. If you find that the soup is becoming too thick, add more homemade broth or water, not more canned broth.

Fifteen minutes before the soup is done, add the canned or pre-cooked beans and the frozen peas (if you substituted them for the green beans). Just before turning off the heat, remove the cheese crust, swirl in the grated cheese, taste, then correct for salt.

Submitted by Lorraine Glazar, Tucson CSA
Adapted from The Classic Italian Cookbook, by Marcella Hazan, 1976