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Minestrone Di Verdure (VEGETABLE SOUP) 🌞
Last edited Thu Jul 17, 2025, 01:30 PM - Edit history (1)
Minestrone di verdureVEGETABLE SOUP
Minestrone is not just any vegetable soup. The endless
variations throughout Italy all have in common an array of
seasonal vegetables that are slowly simmered in water or stock.
After long, patient cooking, the vegetables become soft and
release all their flavors into the broth but still retain their shape.
Depending on where you are in Italy, beans (fresh or dried), pasta
or rice, or even boiled and mashed potatoes are added to the pot
to make a thicker, creamier, more fortifying soup. In Liguria,
minestrone is typically finished with basil pesto.
In Italy, you can often find bags of already cut vegetables at the
market; these are a shortcut to preparing a minestrone and
encourage customers to avoid buying frozen or canned soup.
When you have time, though, nothing beats a minestrone made
with vegetables that are in season, picked at the right moment,
and bursting with flavor. In time, you will develop your own
favorite combination of vegetables. Use the following recipe as
an inspiration, but change it up as you like: add fresh peas in
spring, for example, or strips of kale in winter.
You can cook the minestrone in advance and refrigerate it for a
day or so, then reheat before serving, or even serve it at room
temperature during summer.
SERVES 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
FOR THE CROUTONS
¼ cup/6 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
4 slices day-old bread, such as Tuscan Bread or Semolina Bread, cut into ½-
inch/1.5 cm cubes
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE SOUP
¼ cup/6 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Fine sea salt
2 medium zucchini, diced
4 ounces/115 g green beans, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch/ cm lengths
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cups/1 g thinly sliced Savoy cabbage
4 ounces/115 g baby spinach (about 4 cups), rinsed
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
½ leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 cups/6 g cooked or canned cannellini beans
3 cups/7 ml reserved bean cooking water or hot water, or as needed
A handful of fresh basil leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup/11 g prepared basil pesto
Make the croutons: Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan
set over low heat, add the crushed garlic, and cook until fragrant,
3 to 5 minutes. Add the bread cubes, tossing them with the oil,
then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring often with
a wooden spoon, until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Make the soup: Pour the olive oil into a large pot set over low
heat, add the onion, and season with a generous pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes, until the onions are soft and
translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and stir them into
the onions, then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring
occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften.
Put 1 cup/200 g of the beans into a bowl and, with a potato
masher or the back of a fork, mash with 1 cup/240 ml of the
reserved cooking water (or hot water). Pour into the pot, add
the remaining whole beans, along with the remaining bean
cooking liquid (or hot water), and stir well. Bring to a boil, then
lower the heat and cook, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring
occasionally, adding the basil leaves halfway through the
cooking time.
You can cook the soup for a bit longer if you like your minestrone
thicker, or add some more bean liquid (or hot water) if you prefer
a soup on the brothier side. Taste and season with additional salt
as necessary and with pepper. Add the pesto to the minestrone
and stir to dissolve. Ladle into warmed bowls, scatter the
croutons on top, and drizzle each serving with olive oil.
VARIATIONS
Minestrone con la pasta: Omit the croutons. Add about 1½
cups/12 ounces/340 g short pasta, like tubettini, to the
minestrone about 10 minutes before it is ready and cook,
stirring occasionally, until the pasta is done. You may need
more cooking liquid, so consider adding more hot water
along with the pasta.
Passato di verdure con il riso: Once the minestrone is ready,
blend it with an immersion blender or pass it through a food
mill and return
it to the pot. Return it to the heat, add ¾ cup/115 g cooked
rice per person, and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.
You may need more cooking liquid, so consider adding
more hot water along with the rice. Top each serving with
some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and finish with a drizzle
of olive oil.
variations throughout Italy all have in common an array of
seasonal vegetables that are slowly simmered in water or stock.
After long, patient cooking, the vegetables become soft and
release all their flavors into the broth but still retain their shape.
Depending on where you are in Italy, beans (fresh or dried), pasta
or rice, or even boiled and mashed potatoes are added to the pot
to make a thicker, creamier, more fortifying soup. In Liguria,
minestrone is typically finished with basil pesto.
In Italy, you can often find bags of already cut vegetables at the
market; these are a shortcut to preparing a minestrone and
encourage customers to avoid buying frozen or canned soup.
When you have time, though, nothing beats a minestrone made
with vegetables that are in season, picked at the right moment,
and bursting with flavor. In time, you will develop your own
favorite combination of vegetables. Use the following recipe as
an inspiration, but change it up as you like: add fresh peas in
spring, for example, or strips of kale in winter.
You can cook the minestrone in advance and refrigerate it for a
day or so, then reheat before serving, or even serve it at room
temperature during summer.
SERVES 8 AS A FIRST COURSE
FOR THE CROUTONS
¼ cup/6 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed and peeled
4 slices day-old bread, such as Tuscan Bread or Semolina Bread, cut into ½-
inch/1.5 cm cubes
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE SOUP
¼ cup/6 ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
½ red onion, thinly sliced
Fine sea salt
2 medium zucchini, diced
4 ounces/115 g green beans, trimmed and cut into ¾-inch/ cm lengths
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cups/1 g thinly sliced Savoy cabbage
4 ounces/115 g baby spinach (about 4 cups), rinsed
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
½ leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
3 cups/6 g cooked or canned cannellini beans
3 cups/7 ml reserved bean cooking water or hot water, or as needed
A handful of fresh basil leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup/11 g prepared basil pesto
Make the croutons: Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan
set over low heat, add the crushed garlic, and cook until fragrant,
3 to 5 minutes. Add the bread cubes, tossing them with the oil,
then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring often with
a wooden spoon, until crisp and golden, about 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Make the soup: Pour the olive oil into a large pot set over low
heat, add the onion, and season with a generous pinch of salt.
Cook, stirring, for 5 to 8 minutes, until the onions are soft and
translucent. Add the remaining vegetables and stir them into
the onions, then increase the heat to medium and cook, stirring
occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften.
Put 1 cup/200 g of the beans into a bowl and, with a potato
masher or the back of a fork, mash with 1 cup/240 ml of the
reserved cooking water (or hot water). Pour into the pot, add
the remaining whole beans, along with the remaining bean
cooking liquid (or hot water), and stir well. Bring to a boil, then
lower the heat and cook, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring
occasionally, adding the basil leaves halfway through the
cooking time.
You can cook the soup for a bit longer if you like your minestrone
thicker, or add some more bean liquid (or hot water) if you prefer
a soup on the brothier side. Taste and season with additional salt
as necessary and with pepper. Add the pesto to the minestrone
and stir to dissolve. Ladle into warmed bowls, scatter the
croutons on top, and drizzle each serving with olive oil.
VARIATIONS
Minestrone con la pasta: Omit the croutons. Add about 1½
cups/12 ounces/340 g short pasta, like tubettini, to the
minestrone about 10 minutes before it is ready and cook,
stirring occasionally, until the pasta is done. You may need
more cooking liquid, so consider adding more hot water
along with the pasta.
Passato di verdure con il riso: Once the minestrone is ready,
blend it with an immersion blender or pass it through a food
mill and return
it to the pot. Return it to the heat, add ¾ cup/115 g cooked
rice per person, and simmer for 5 minutes before serving.
You may need more cooking liquid, so consider adding
more hot water along with the rice. Top each serving with
some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and finish with a drizzle
of olive oil.
from "Cucina Povera: The Italian Way of Transforming Humble Ingredients into Unforgettable Meals"
(Literally "The Kitchen of the Poor"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60831930-cucina-povera
"Ciao, I am Giulia Scarpaleggia, a Tuscan born and bred food writer, cookbook author, podcaster, and cooking class instructor. I am a proud home cook. I started this blog in 2009 to collect family recipes and stories. If you like seasonal food, the Tuscan countryside and a genuine approach to life, you’re in the right place!
The Juls’ Kitchen blog is an archive of free recipes: more than 700 delicious, Italian, Tuscan, and seasonal recipes shared over more than a decade. You can find all the info for cooking classes, along with foodie guides to our favourite areas of Tuscany, and beyond. You can subscribe to our newsletter, Letters from Tuscany, where most of our writing and recipes will live from now on. And then there is Cucina Povera, our sixth book that celebrates the best of the Italian resourceful, thrifty and inventive cooking tradition."
https://en.julskitchen.com/
https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/talking-tuscan-cooking-giulia-scarpaleggia
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too! 