If you follow me on Instagram, and If it sometimes seems like I am eating a lot, it’s usually because I am. Between food tours and checking out restaurants for my app, there is – more often than not – a big plate of pasta in front of my face. And the holidays? While it’s a delicious time of year, it’s also the perfect storm of too much all day long.
So after a December filled with dinners and parties with friends and family, followed by 48 hours of non stop Christmas meals in Bari, I turned to green minestrone yesterday. This bright green soup filled with winter vegetables was just what my body was craving. Warm, filling and nourishing it in no way feels like the somewhat ‘diet’ food that it is.
I make minestrone all year long, and people are always asking me for a recipe. But minestrone – which literally means ‘big soup’ in Italian – is never really the same from one pot to the next. It not only has to do with what’s in season, but also (at least in my book) how you are feeling. In Rome, the vegetable vendors prepare and sell bags of pre-cut vegetables ready to go. It’s always a mix of exactly what is in season. In the summer you’ll see chunks of peppers and zucchini. In the winter cabbage and carrots show up. Other items that can’t really be diced ahead, like potatoes and onions, are left to the discretion of the cook.
There are always some sort of greens. Swiss chard in the summer, cabbage or kale in the winter. And tomatoes are usually a component as well, either fresh if you can get good ones, or even a can of pelati if you can’t. The tomatoes add acidity but also a certain sweetness.
But my favourite time of year for making minestrone is now. And I go for the green. I don’t really have a recipe in terms of what to include, but I do have things I definitely leave out. No tomatoes or carrots (too sweet). Definitely no bell peppers or zucchini (not anyway near in season).
And for my more ‘healthy’ version of this soup, I tend to leave out starchy additions like potatoes or beans. But as you can see from my plate full of soup above and below, I did end up adding a few pieces of stale bread. While soups like ribolita and pappa al pomodoro add bread to the soup as one of the ingredients, and cook until it completely thickens the broth, a much easier way to use of stale bread is to simply break it directly into your bowl. This way everyone can control how much they add, and it also retains some of it’s breadiness, which I like. Don’t confuse these with fried or baked croutons. These breads bits are meant to thicken the soup and add body.
Here is my list of ingredients that was basically what looked best at my market yesterday: fennel , broccoli, cavolo romano, parsley, celery, onion, garlic, spinach.
And really, that’s it. You basically chop it all up, cover with water (no broth) and salt. It couldn’t be easier. I also added a parmigiano rind because I had it. At the end, I puree about half. Then, when it’s in the bowl, you should definitely add a generous swirl of your best olive oil, some grated parmigiano
Green Minestrone
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8
This minestrone is all about green. Yes, you can add other veggies, but then it won't taste like this version.Â
Ingredients
- 1 large fennel bulb
- 1 medium head of broccoli
- 1 medium head of cavolo Romano (if you can’t find you can substitute regular cauliflower)
- A handful of parsley
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and diced finely
- Salt
- 1 parmigiano rind
- 3 cups spinach leaves, trimmed of thick stems
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- Grated parmigiano for serving
- Extra virgin olive oil for serving
- Stale bread, torn up in pieces
Instructions
Roughly chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces (about half inch). Add to large pot and cover with water by about 1 inch. Add about 2 tsp of salt and parmigiano rind. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 45 minutes.
Right before serving, remove the cheese rind and add the spinach. Adding the spinach at the very last minute increases the green hue of the soup. Let simmer about 4 minutes more, until the spinach is wilted.
Turn off heat, and add the lemon juice. Using an immersible blender, puree about half of the soup. You want to thicken the broth, but still have chunks. Taste and adjust for seasoning. But keep in mind you’ll add grated cheese in the plate, so that will add salt. Add more lemon juice if you'd like.
Ladle into bowls and top with a swirl of your best olive oil, and grated parmigiano. If you’d like, you can also add torn stale bread. (I like!)
This looks delicious, but the ingredients list omits the spinach! How much spinach do you use?
Sorry, that was an error I’ve now fixed!
I don’t see spinach in the ingredient list – what’s the rough amount? (Unless you meant to add parsley?)
Thanks for the comment! I just added spinach to the ingredients list. I had forgotten!
Elizabeth, Here in the East Coast USA kale is just about taking over. It’s getting harder and harder to find escarole or cicoria, the traditional greens in our southern italian family’s minestr’. Is this now the case in Italia?
No, it’s very easy in Italy to find ALL the greens everywhere.
Elizabeth, thank you for this wonderful recipe. I am trying to help my fiancé learn to enjoy vegetables and healthful foods, and he loved this recipe. It’s wonderful to feel so full and satisfied and know we nourishing ourselves. This soup will become a staple for us in winter.
I’m so happy to hear you both enjoyed it. It’s one of my personal favorites!
Hi Elizabeth,
I made this soup today with most of the ingredients—didn’t have fennel. It is very good! I did add too much water, because, of course, the vegetables floated up when I started adding it. Next time I’ll gauge the amount of water when the vegetables are still dry in the pot. Mind yourself, Anne