The Petite French Lady’s Italian Minestrone

Our weather has suddenly turned really cool, even “nippy,” and it’s just the perfect weather for soup! In our family we have two soups that are favorites, and it would be impossible I think to make any of us choose THE favorite because we like them both so much. The recipes for these soups are old. The potato soup is a soup my great-grandmother used to make… more about that in a future post. I made the other favorite, minestrone, for our supper last night. The recipe for this came from the family of a petite French-Canadian lady who cooked for her own Italian restaurant. And no, the Italian is not a typo!

Here is her recipe, which obviously is not strictly the Italian version of minestrone, and in parentheses the changes I have made…

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I always used ground turkey)
1/2 pound stew beef or 2 teaspoons instant dry beef bouillon (I do not use the beef bouillon)
1 medium onion, about 1/2 cup chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed (we like garlic so I use 2 or 3 cloves, depending on size)

Cook the meat, onions, and garlic in a skillet in a small amount of olive or other oil until the meat is browned and the onions are transparent. Drain, then add to a dutch oven or similar large pot with the following:

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced, about 1 cup
1 small zucchini or yellow squash, sliced, about 1 cup
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup packed raw spinach (I use one box frozen spinach)
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes (I use crushed)
1 can kidney beans (I use dried beans and a combination of small white beans and pinto or kidney beans… I think the different bean textures really add to the soup)
1 can whole kernel corn (I do not add corn… to me it doesn’t seem to fit in this soup)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I add salt and pepper to taste… amount of salt needed will depend on salt content in canned beans, etc., if you use them)
enough water to more than cover all the above ingredients in the soup pot
Italian seasoning to taste (I add basil, parsley, and oregano instead)
Parmesan or Romano cheese to sprinkle on top of soup in bowl

I also add:
1 cup of diced fresh carrots
1 or 2 potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen or fresh green beans

Bring everything to a boil, then simmer until the cabbage and other vegetables are almost cooked. Add 1/2 cup uncooked pasta and simmer again until the pasta is done. (I cook the pasta separately and add it to the soup at the end.)

I have always thought the cooking times in this recipe are a little off. When I make the meat version, I simmer the meat, onions, garlic, and raw vegetables and the dried beans until everything is cooked, then I add the tomatoes, seasonings, and cooked pasta. Obviously canned beans, canned corn, etc., would require less cooking time than raw or dried beans and vegetables.

I always make huge batches of this soup and freeze the extras. It is really a delicious soup.

Written by Shirley | Filed Under Cooking & Baking from Scratch, Frugality & Nutrition series, My Family's Favorite Recipes, My Soy-Free Recipes

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