Minestrone Soup
All right, friends and foodies, head to the kitchen and pull out the biggest pot you’ve got. It’s soup time in the Midwest, where the temperatures are hovering in the single digits or in minus territory. It takes a hearty soup to take the chill off the bones in such frosty conditions. What better way than with a bowl of Minestrone, chucked with vegetables and wonderful Italian flavorings.
Soup for a Happy, Hearty New Year
My father, Reginald Carpenter
I spent the first morning of the New Year making this soup. The hard part is chopping all the vegetables. But that was also the good part for me, because it reminded me of my father.
He lived with our family for nearly eight years before his death. He’d sit in the kitchen and watch me cook, often offering to string beans, chop vegetables, or read me a recipe. (The seated photo on the left taken in the late 1940s is a rare one, since he was always on the move.)
It’s surprising how much longer it takes to make a pot of soup without his help. It took a bit longer, too, because I photograph as I go along, which requires set up, lighting, clean hands and no little patience. Since I’ve written about this soup before, it’s in the Recipe Gallery, so I’ll not reprint it in this post. You can find a printable version for my much-beloved Minestrone here.
Onions and leeks sauteed with pancetta bacon.
An assortment of soup vegetables: zucchini, carrots, celery and potatoes.
Vegetables ready for the addition of chicken broth, garbanzo beans and tomatoes. And, lastly, tubetti noodles and fresh spinach.
After an hour of cooking, you will have a most delicious Minestrone. Flavor with a dash of balsamic vinegar and fresh, grated Parmesan for a bone-warming meal.
