Bittman Basics

Minestrone Isn’t Just an Italian American Grandma Soup

It’s a hearty dish that makes you feel better — physically and otherwise

Photo: Romulo Yanes

Here’s an old-fashioned soup that you’d find in a red-sauce restaurant that might remind you of a soup a mother or a grandmother might make to make you feel better — a backup to chicken noodle (apparently it’s been around since at least the 1870s, and perhaps as early as the Roman Empire). But I can’t help but wonder if minestrone might be better for you — not just in terms of ingredients, but skill-building if you’re teaching yourself to cook.

Here’s an easily varied vegetable soup that helps you start thinking of vegetables in groups: aromatics (garlic, onions, celery, and carrots); hard or sturdy; tender (like zucchini or green beans); and greens. So if you look at the ingredient list that way, you can mix and match vegetables depending on what you have in the fridge or what looks best in the store.

To give the soup even more flavor, cut the rind from a piece of Parmesan cheese and add it along with the water. Or cut a piece of rind into small chunks; it will soften enough to eat and is a real treat.

Left: Caramelizing the aromatics. They will go through stages as they cook and color. After a few minutes, they’ll begin to soften. Adjust the heat and keep cooking until they begin to color. Right: Adding the hard vegetables. The idea is to build flavor layer by layer. As different ingredients cook, they add multiple dimensions of texture, too.

Right: Adding the liquid. When the vegetables begin to brown in spots, add the liquid and scrape up the bits stuck on the bottom. This is called deglazing. Left: Adding greens and tender vegetables. The greens and zucchini add a final touch of freshness. You could use herbs here, too, like a handful of chopped basil.

Minestrone

Time: About 1 hour
Makes: 4–6 servings

Ingredients

• ¼ cup olive oil, plus more for garnish
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium celery stalk, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 large potatoes (or turnips, peeled, if you like) and cut into small chunks
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; don’t bother to drain)
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into small chunks
• 1 bunch sturdy leafy greens like kale or escarole…