We are preparing minestrone, a seasonal Italian "big soup."

Time, Difficulty, Cost

Time spent: up to 1.5 hours

Difficulty: 3 out of 5 (due to vegetable cutting)

Cost of ingredients: average in vegetable season, from above average to high in off-season

List of Ingredients (for 6-8 servings)

• 1 medium zucchini
• 3 stalks of celery
• ½ root of celery
• 3 medium potatoes
• 2 medium carrots
• 6 tomatoes
• 120 g canned beans (can be replaced with red or fresh green beans)
• 1 large onion
• 3 large cloves of garlic
• 3 liters of broth (vegetable or meat, depending on preference)
• 150 ml of dry white wine
• olive oil for frying
• dried Italian herb mix
• salt (if the broth is salty, very little salt will be needed), pepper to taste

Preparation

The quality or lighting of some photos may not be up to par, as we prepared most of the minestrone without light due to the blackout caused by the inadequate Russian forces and their massive rocket attacks on Ukraine, including energy infrastructure. Therefore, we thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all the soldiers who make it possible for us to cook and live at all.

Blanching tomatoes is a process of briefly heating them, which helps to easily remove the skin. Make a small cross-cut on the top of each tomato. Boil a pot of water. The water should completely cover the tomatoes. At the same time, prepare a large bowl of cold water. Add ice to it so that the water is icy. Carefully place the tomatoes in the boiling water. Blanch them for about 20-30 seconds, or until the skin starts to crack. After that, quickly transfer the tomatoes to the bowl of ice water. This will stop the cooking process and make peeling easier. After about 1 minute, remove the tomatoes from the water. The skin should now come off easily.

Cook vegetable or meat broth, and while it is cooking, we will cut and sauté the vegetables. Crush the garlic cloves with the blade of a knife and chop them. Finely chop the onion.

Heat a pan, add olive oil, and warm it up.

Add the garlic and sauté it for literally ten seconds, just enough for it to release its aroma into the oil. Reduce the heat and add the onion. Sauté it until golden brown.

While the onion is frying, we cut the celery root and carrot into small cubes (brunoise).

As soon as we have sautéed the onion to the desired color and softness, we add the chopped celery root and carrot. Sauté for 10 minutes, then add the chopped celery stalks and sauté for another 5-7 minutes. Add the Italian herb mix and sauté for another minute.

Pour in 150 ml of dry white wine and evaporate it, stirring the entire mixture thoroughly.

Transfer the cooked vegetable mixture to a pot, add the broth.

Cut the potatoes into slightly larger cubes than the carrots and celery, and add them to the soup. After boiling, reduce the heat.

Cook for 20 minutes. Now is the time to add the blanched tomatoes. We will crush them by hand to add new textures to the minestrone.

Cut the zucchini into cubes, similar in size to the potatoes, and add them to the pot.

Actually, this is where the preparation ends.

It’s time to taste the ready and aromatic minestrone. At this stage, we added the ingredient we mentioned at the beginning – pesto sauce. It added even more rich flavors and aromas to the soup. Optionally, you can also add a spoonful of cold-pressed olive oil, which will complement the flavor palette of the minestrone.

Enjoy! ;)