Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Minestrone with Fennel and ...

Watercress? Well, couldn't find any :( but used arugula instead!

(from healthygreenkitchen)

Another amazing soup recipe. I wonder how many pots of soup I've made throughout my lifetime? A lot I'd say. This will be added to the heavy rotation list, as it more than delivered. Very spring like - something I could use right about now (so done with winter). And note to self - must experiment with fennel bulb more often - its very tasty and has a great mouth feel. I stirred in some arugula near the end, and also substituted pasta for potato - because I've never had a minestrone without pasta. Oh, and I added some chopped, organic zucchini as well, for the same reason.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
3 small/1 large Yukon gold potato, chopped (or pasta!)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken stock, plus 1-2 cups more, if needed (it was needed)
one 15 oz. can of white kidney beans, drained (or use chickpeas?)
one 28 oz. can of tomatoes, with juice
chunk of Parmesan cheese rind, opt (didn’t have a rind, but added some grated parm to serve)
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper
1 bunch watercress, cleaned & chopped fine
1 cup of minced parsley

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, until they start to soften and brown a bit.

In a separate pot, cook the carrot w/ the tomatoes (a tip my mommy gave me!)

To the onion mixture, add the stock, the beans, the tomato mixture, breaking them up with a wooden spoon as you go. Add the Parmesan rind (and pasta, if using) (and zucchini!). Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer, add 1-2 cups more liquid if necessary, and cook for 20 minutes or so, until the pasta is tender. Allow to cool a bit and taste the broth. Add salt, if needed, and pepper.

Take a handful of the greens and place in serving bowl (I didn't do this). Pour the hot soup over the greens and garnish with a generous sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, if desired. (heck yes, I desire!)

1 comment:

  1. Memories of you and me cooking up big batches of minestrone in Vic/Van. Except we wouldn't have been buying fennel bulbs in those days ;-).

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