Minestrone Ala Milanese Food

MINESTRONE ALLA MILANESE

Steps:

• Heat butter in 6 quart stock pot over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir 6-8 minutes until soft and golden, but not brown.
• Stir in carrots and potato; cook and stir 5 minutes. Add celery, green beans, zucchini, cabbage and garlic; cook and stir 5 minutes.
• Add broth, water and tomatoes to pot. Stir in all spices.
• Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to low. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Rinse and drain cannelini beans; add to pot along with pasta. Uncover and cook over medium-low heat 30 minutes until soup thickens, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaf.

MINESTRONE ALA MILANESE

Steps:

• Soak the beans overnight in enough water to keep them covered, then drain them and put them in a giant kettle (2-gallon or larger) with 4 quarts of water. Add the garlic cloves (peeled and put through a press), the onion, and the olive oil. Simmer the beans for about 1 1/2 hours. Choose 3 large potatoes with healthy skins and scrub them thoroughly under running water. Cut them into large pieces, without peeling, and add them to the pot. Slice thickly the carrots and zucchini and add them also, together with the cut string beans and sliced leeks. Season with some salt and pepper, a little chopped parsley, a good pinch of celery seed, some basil, oregano, and a pinch of marjoram. Simmer again for about 45 minutes. Slice thinly half a small head of savoy cabbage and add it to the soup along with the rice. If you can get the large, beautiful rice of the Lombardy region of Italy, you will truly have Minestrone alla Milanese. After adding the rice, simmer the soup another 20 minutes. If it is getting too thick for your taste, add a little more water as needed. About 5 minutes before the soup is ready to serve, add the tomatoes (cut into large wedges), the Parmesan cheese, and a little more fresh parsley. Serve steaming hot with a good whole-grain bread or muffin and more parmesan cheese if desired.

ITALIAN MINESTRONE SOUP

Steps:

• In a large pot add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, roughly chopped onion, carrots, celery, garlic clove, and pancetta cubes. Sautee on medium heat for a few minutes stirring a couple of times in the process.
• Add potatoes, butternut squash, tomatoes, bay leaf, rosemary sprigs and a couple of pinches of salt.
• Give a nice stir and add enough water to cover all the veggies.Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 40 minutes. Add more liquid if needed.
• Past this time veggies will become super soft and will "melt" one into another creating delicious creamy texture.
• Once veggies are cooked add chopped savoy cabbage or other leafy greens and drained canned beans. Add more water if needed. Give a nice stir and cook for another 15 minutes.
• As a last step, add pasta or rice. Let cook for 5-15 more minutes depending on how long pasta or rice will take to cook.
• If you're not planning to serve minestrone right away, don't add pasta or rice immediately.Instead, bring the soup to a boil when you're ready to serve it and then add pasta or rice.
• Minestrone is ready to serve when pasta (rice) is cooked. I takes about 5-6 minutes for ditalini pasta and about 15 minutes for rice.
• Serve hot or warm generously topped with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

MINESTRONE ALA MILANESE

Steps:

• In a large stock or soup pot, over medium heat, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil.
• Add the onion, leek, celery, carrots, cabbage, green beans & potatoes & stir for 2 minutes.
• Add the prosciutto, zucchini, spinach, tomatoes & tomato sauce & stir for another 2 minutes.
• Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil & then simmer, covered, over low heat for 15 minutes.
• Add the rice & beans & simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes or until the rice is tender.
• Remove the soup from the heat.
• In a small skillet, sautè the rosemary and oregano in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil for 30 seconds.
• Add this to the soup along with the parsley & cheese.
• Season with salt & pepper to taste & serve immediately with a crusty garlic bread.
• Garnish with more grated cheese if desired.