I grew up in an Italian household and most of our evening meals began with minestra, a soup based on pulses and a staple such as rice, pasta or potatoes. The minestra was usually followed by a simple meat dish and salad, which, living in Australia, we could easily afford. However, when my mother was a child, growing up in a remote village during wartime, the pulses in the minestra would have been her sole source of protein except for special holidays.
So, to my mind, minestra is central to and typical of Italian cuisine, being simple, nutritious and delicious. In fact, minestra is so central and simple, it was the first dish I was taught to cook.
To a large extent, all minestras are based on the same method. Sauté onion in olive oil, add tomato and reduce, add the pulses and sauté, add water or stock, bring to the boil and add the staple. At most, one or two further ingredients might be added, such as spinach, celery or fennel. All can be served with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Could anything be simpler?
A variation to the minestra as a soup is ‘minestra asciutta’ or dry minestra, where the ingredients are the same but there is less liquid resulting in a dish that is more like a risotto.
The ultimate minestra is a minestrone or big/robust minestra. I must admit, not everyone agrees with my definition of minestrone. I have more than once been served what I consider nothing more than thick vegetable soup when I ordered a minestrone in what purported to be an Italian restaurant.
To my mind, a minestrone must contain at least beans, some form of cabbage and a staple. Additional ingredients must be root vegetables or other vegetables that can take long, slow cooking, such as green beans. (This rules out zucchini!) The version that follows is perforce limited as it is for a single serving. You’ll find a fuller version under Cooking in Bulk: Soups and Vegetable Medleys.
Some of the following recipes name the tomato ingredient as diced tomatoes, which, as an item in my list of standby vegetables (see Essential Standby Vegetables), I’m assuming you’re most likely to have on hand. However, you could substitute tomato purée, passata or 2 tsp. tomato paste with ¼ cup water.
Apart from minestra, there are many hearty soups on this website. To find more soups see Hot Soups from the Pantry or just enter ‘soup’ in Search.
Recipes:
Pasta e Piselli
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- Basil, parsley and pepper
- 1 cup vegetable stock (optional)
- ¼ cup small macaroni or elbows
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté onion with pepper
- Add peas and sauté until lightly cooked
- Add diced tomatoes with herbs and simmer for 3–5 minutes to reduce
- Add stock or 1 cup water and simmer for 5–10 minutes
- Return to the boil and add pasta
- Simmer for a further 12–15 minutes
Variations: substitute 220gm canned peas, drained, for frozen peas and at Step 2 sauté to heat through
Riso e Fagioli
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- ¼ cup diced tomatoes
- 125gm can four bean mix
- 1 cup vegetable stock (optional)
- 3 tbsp. rice
- Basil, parsley and pepper
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté onion with pepper
- Add diced tomatoes with herbs and simmer for 3–5 minutes to reduce
- Add beans with liquid
- Add stock or 1 cup water and simmer for 10–15 minutes
- Return to the boil and add rice
- Cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
Variations:
- substitute ¼ cup small macaroni or elbows for the rice to make Pasta e Fagioli
- substitute a peeled and diced small potato for the rice to make Patate e Fagioli
- substitute 125gm can chickpeas for the four bean mix
Pasta e Ceci
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- ¼ cup diced tomatoes
- 125gm can chickpeas
- ¼ cup small macaroni or elbows
- Basil, parsley and pepper
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté onion with pepper
- Add diced tomatoes with herbs and simmer for 3–5 minutes to reduce
- Add chickpeas with liquid
- Add stock or 1 cup water and simmer for 10–15 minutes
- Return to the boil and add pasta
- Cover and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally
Minestra con Spinaci
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- ¼ cup diced tomatoes
- 125gm can four bean mix
- 1–2 portions frozen spinach (or ½ cup chopped spinach leaves)
- 1 cup vegetable stock (optional)
- 3 tbsp. rice or ¼ cup small macaroni or elbows
- Basil, parsley and pepper
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté onion with pepper
- Add diced tomatoes with herbs and simmer for 3–5 minutes to reduce
- Add beans with liquid
- Add stock or 1 cup water and simmer for 10–15 minutes
- Add spinach and allow to thaw
- Return to the boil and add rice or pasta
- Cover and simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally
Risi e Bisi
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 3 tbsp. rice
- 1 tbsp. chopped onion
- 2 tbsp. diced bacon (optional)
- ¼ tsp. chicken stock powder
- Garlic and parsley
- Shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté onion with garlic
- Add diced bacon and sauté (optional)
- Add peas and sauté
- Add a little water and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes
- Add rice and stir through
- Add 2/3 cup of boiling water with stock powder and parsley
- Cover and simmer for 15 minutes
- Stir in a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (optional)
Minestrone
- 2 tbsp. diced bacon (optional)
- 2 tsp. tomato paste
- 125gm can four bean mix
- 1 cup coleslaw mix, large pieces chopped
- 1 tbsp. rice or 2 tbsp. small macaroni
- Dried onion, pepper, parsley and basil
- Olive or canola oil
- In a small saucepan sauté diced bacon (optional)
- Add beans with the water and heat through
- Add tomato paste, herbs and spices
- Add 1 cup boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes
- Add coleslaw mix and rice or macaroni
- Simmer for a further 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding more water if necessary
Variations:
- substitute chopped cabbage or Brussels sprouts and carrot for the coleslaw mix
- substitute 1 small potato, peeled and diced for the rice and add at Step 4