Minestrone basically means big soup with lots of ingredients - which is music to my culinary ears, as the thicker, chunkier and more colourful, the better! The ingredients may vary, but I always incorporate zucchini, a hearty green, beans, and pasta.
Saute for a few minutes some onion, celery and carrots, season w/ s & p. Add chicken stock (8 cups), and a small can of v-8 juice, and turn up the heat. Add a mixture of green and purple cabbage (I've also added kale or rapini in the past, with amazing results, oh and green beans are lovely), zucchini & bell pepper, 2 cans of beans (I used one red & one white kidney) and a tray of roasted tomatoes. Simmer. Once nearly cooked, I stirred in a blob of frozen pesto I made earlier in the summer, and some el dente whole wheat broad noodles - which continued cooking in the soup. I'll serve w/ chopped Italian parsley, some chopped arugula, and a dusting of parm.
Oh.Mio.Dio.
