Crowd Size Minestrone Food

QUICK AND EASY MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown slightly, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, rosemary and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until the tomato paste begins to darken in color, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth until the paste is smooth and incorporated into the liquid.
• Add the whole can of diced tomatoes (including the liquid), and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the pasta, the white beans and reserved liquid and the soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the pasta is al dente, 7 to 8 minutes, stirring in the green beans during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Serve in individual bowls with a little oil drizzled on top.

SLOW COOKER VEGETARIAN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Combine vegetable broth, tomatoes, kidney beans, onion, celery, carrots, green beans, zucchini, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, thyme, and black pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker.
• Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook elbow macaroni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 minutes; drain.
• Stir spinach and macaroni into minestrone; cook another 15 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese.

GREEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat; cook and stir onion and garlic until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add green beans, peas, and zucchini; toss to coat vegetables with oil.
• Slowly stream vegetable broth into vegetable mixture; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in rosemary and great Northern beans and bring back to a simmer, about 5 minutes. Add ditalini pasta and simmer soup until pasta is tender but firm to the bite and soup has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in parsley.
• Ladle soup into serving bowls and top each serving with 1 heaping tablespoon Parmesan cheese; season with salt and black pepper. Garnish soup with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.

ITALIAN CHICKEN MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook until softened, 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add tomatoes with juice and cook until liquid is evaporated, 4 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta, carrots, and Parmesan rind, if using, and cook 5 minutes. Add kale, zucchini, and chickpeas and cook until zucchini is crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Stir in chicken and cook until warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove rind before serving. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired.

CROWD-SIZE MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Heat oil in 8-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook garlic and onion in oil about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender.
• Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour. Serve with cheese.
• To Refrigerate:.
• Refrigerate tightly covered no longer than 48 hours.
• To Reheat From Refrigerator:.
• Cover and heat soup to boiling in 8-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

CLASSIC MINESTRONE

Steps:

• In a casserole heat the olive oil. Add the onions and cook until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the beans, bay leaf and thyme and toss for 1 minute. Then add the beef stock, Parmesan rind (if using), plum tomatoes and their juice, and salt and pepper to taste. (Careful with the amount of salt since Parmesan rind will add a salty flavor.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Add the potatoes, zucchini and savoy cabbage and cook for 20 minutes more or until the vegetables are tender. Finally, add your pasta and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, ladle into bowls and serve with some pesto.

MINESTRONE WITH FRESH HERBS

Steps:

• In a stockpot over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add onion, shallot, garlic, pepper, oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, celery, and carrots; saute, stirring frequently, until onions are soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.
• Add eggplant, red pepper, and zucchini; saute until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes more. Add chicken stock and canned tomatoes, and bring to a boil, stirring to break up the tomatoes. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer until vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes. Add beans and pasta; cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more. Serve immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan if desired.

MINESTRONE SOUP

Steps:

• Brown meat in skillet; drain well.
• In a medium pot, combine all ingredients except noodles and cheese.
• Bring to a boil and add noodles. Lower heat to simmer.
• Simmer 15-20 minutes or until noodles are cooked. Stir occasionally and adjust seasoning to taste.
• Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with cheese.
• I serve this with crusty bread.
• You can add additional seasonings if desired to your personal preference.

MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Prepare: 1 cup dried cannellini or borlotti beans (see page 78). This will yield 2 1/2 to 3 cups of cooked beans. Reserve the cooking liquid.
• Heat in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat: 1/4 cup olive oil.
• Add: 1 large onion, finely chopped, 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped.
• Cook for 15 minutes, or until tender. Add: 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped, 5 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 2 teaspoons salt.
• Cook for 5 minutes longer. Add, and bring to a boil: 3 cups water.
• When boiling, add: 1 small leek, diced, 1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths.
• Cook for 5 minutes, then add: 2 medium zucchini, cut into small dice, 2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped.
• Cook for 15 minutes. Taste for salt and adjust as necessary. Add the cooked beans, along with: 1 cup bean cooking liquid, 2 cups spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (about 1 pound).
• Cook for 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add more bean cooking liquid. Remove the bay leaf. Serve in bowls, each one garnished with: 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon or more grated Parmesan cheese.
• Fall Minestrone with Kale and Butternut Squash
• Follow the recipe, but add 2 finely chopped celery stalks to the soffritto and cook to a rich golden brown. Instead of thyme, add about 1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary and 1 teaspoon chopped sage with the garlic. Borlotti or cranberry beans can be substituted for the cannellini beans. Omit the green beans, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, and spinach, and use instead 1 bunch kale, stemmed, washed, and chopped; 1 small can of tomatoes, drained and chopped; and 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 2 cups). Cook the tomatoes and kale with the soffritto for 5 minutes, add the water, and cook for 15 minutes. Add the squash and continue cooking until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes, before adding the cooked beans.
• Winter Minestrone with Turnips, Potatoes, and Cabbage
• Follow the recipe, but to the soffritto add 2 celery stalks, chopped fine, and cook to a rich golden brown. Cut up 1/2 head cabbage into bite-size pieces and cook until tender in salted boiling water. For the green beans, zucchini, and tomatoes, substitute 1 pound turnips and 1/2 pound yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces. If the turnips have fresh greens attached, stem, wash, and chop them and add them to the soup with the turnips and potatoes. Towards the end of the cooking, add the beans and, instead of the spinach, the cooked cabbage.
• Spring Minestrone with Peas and Asparagus
• Instead of carrot in the soffritto, use 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces. Do not let it brown. If green garlic is available, use 2 or 3 stalks, trimmed and chopped, instead of garlic cloves. Use 2 leeks instead of one. Add the liquid (half water, half broth, if possible), bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Omit the green beans, zucchini, and tomatoes. Substitute 1 cup shelled peas (from 1 pound in the pod) and 1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick pieces. Add with the beans and cook for 5 minutes before adding the spinach. If not serving this soup right away, cool it down quickly in an ice bath so the asparagus does not lose its bright green color.

BEEFY MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Combine the first 13 ingredients in a 5- or 6-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until meat is tender. , Stir in pasta. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until pasta is tender. If desired, top with fresh oregano and shredded Parmesan cheese.