Dinner at Home

Friday, December 13, 2013

Veggie Minestrone

The following recipe is pretty close to the one in the wonderful book, Cook This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. That recipe is a slimmed-down version of the minestrone served at Carraba's Italian Grill. This goes great with some crusty Italian bread and a green salad.

Vegetarian Minestrone

 (Serves 6-8)

 Ingredients 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup diced potato (peel or unpeeled, your choice; I like the skin)
2 carrots, diced
1 medium zucchini or yellow squash diced
1 cup fresh green beans, ends trimmed and halved
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 T tomato paste
1 t dried thyme
1 t dried basil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice with Italian seasonings
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups mushroom stock (or all chicken stock or use vegetable if you want to keep truly vegetarian) Salt and pepper, to taste
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Grated Parmesan cheese, optional
Pesto, optional

Instructions 
1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, for five minutes.
3. Add potato, carrots, zucchini, and green beans and cook until the vegetables are just beginning to soften.
 4. Add the bay leaf, crushed red pepper, tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, thyme, basil, and stock. Bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer for as little as 15 minutes and up to 45 minutes (longer is better, in my book, but keep it at a simmer and give it a stir once in a while).
5. Add cannellini beans and warm through.
6. Adjust taste with salt and pepper.
7. Serve topped with Parmesan and a dollop of your favorite pesto.

5 comments:

  1. Diana...this is a really delicious recipe. I promise you it's a keeper.

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  2. Hi Rick, This sounds wonderful! Quick question, though, I see in the instructions you mention Cannellini beans but I don't see it in the ingredients list. How much many or much would we use?

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  3. Sorry about that! I have updated the recipe to correct the error. You add in one can at the end of cooking.

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  4. Awesome! Thanks, Rick! Happy Holidays! :)

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