Winter / No. 17 / Building a soffritto
Winter Minestrone with Parmesan Rind
A hearty Italian vegetable soup with cannellini beans, kale, small pasta, tomatoes and a Parmesan rind simmered in for savory depth.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 55 min
- Total
- 1 hr 20 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
Photo: Minestrone soup by Katrin Morenz from Aachen, Deutschland, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.
Minestrone is not one fixed recipe but a way of cooking: a big pot of vegetables, beans and pasta that changes with the season and whatever is in the kitchen. In winter it is thick and warming, full of hardy greens, root vegetables and white beans, and finished with olive oil and a shower of grated cheese.
The flavor starts with a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery cooked slowly in olive oil, and it gets its savory depth from an unexpected ingredient: the rind from a wedge of Parmesan. Simmered in the broth, it softens and releases rich, nutty flavor. Start saving your rinds in the freezer.
Method
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, until very soft and sweet.
- 2
Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute.
- 3
Add the potato and squash and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for 3 minutes.
- 4
Add the tomatoes with their juices, stock, Parmesan rind, bay leaf and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes.
- 5
Mash about half a cup of the beans with a fork and stir them into the soup with the whole beans and kale. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- 6
Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 9 to 11 minutes. Add hot water if the soup becomes too thick.
- 7
Remove the rind and bay leaf. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve in warm bowls with a drizzle of olive oil, grated Parmesan and parsley.
Cook's notes
- If you plan to have leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to each bowl; otherwise it will swell and absorb the broth.
- A spoonful of basil pesto stirred into each bowl brightens the soup.
- Any white beans, chickpeas or borlotti beans work.
Keeping
Keeps for 5 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer (freeze without pasta). Thin with stock when reheating.
Cooking times and temperatures are guides; ovens, stoves and ingredients vary. This recipe is for home cooking and is not dietary or medical advice. Check labels for allergens.
