Minestrone with white beans and small pasta

Name: Minestrone with white beans and small pasta
Prep time: 35 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 100 g Yellow onions (1 small, cut into 1 cm dice); 100 g Carrots (1 medium, cut into 1 cm dice); 60 g Celery (1 stalk, cut into 1 cm dice); 150 g Potatoes (1 small, cut into 1 cm dice); 150 g Courgettes (1 small, cut into 1 cm dice); 80 g Green beans (a handful, cut into 2 cm lengths); 120 g Swiss chard, stalks and leaves (3 leaves with their stalks, washed and checked leaf by leaf, cut into 1 cm strips; or finely sliced white cabbage, leaves checked); 10 g Garlic (2 cloves); 20 g Double-concentrated tomato purée (1 tbsp); 400 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) (1 whole 400 g tin with its juice); 240 g Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin) (1 × 400 g tin, giving 240 g drained beans; mash 3 tbsp); 140 g Ditalini (small tubular soup pasta) (70 g per person; small tubes with an 8–10 minute cooking time on the packet); 50 g Parmesan or Grana Padano (250 g piece) (a piece of rind weighing about 20 g (5 × 3 cm) for the broth, 30 g grated to serve); 3 g Fresh rosemary (1 sprig); 0.3 g Dried bay leaves (1 leaf); 40 g Extra virgin olive oil (3 tbsp for the base, 1 tbsp to drizzle over after cooking); 15 g Fresh basil (1 small handful of leaves, washed and checked); 12 g Fine salt (3 g with the soffritto, 5 g with the water, 0–4 g to taste before adding the pasta); 0.5 g Ground black pepper (2 pinches); 1000 g Water (800 g hot water at the start, 200 g boiling water to adjust while the pasta cooks)

dairy main dish · Italian · 2/5 · easy · 65 min, including 35 hands-on

The nonnas’ hearty vegetable soup: a softened soffritto, potatoes to thicken the broth, courgette, green beans and chard, a few white beans and ditalini, cooked in a tomato and rosemary broth with a Parmesan rind, then served with grated Parmesan.

Ingredients for two

100 g	Yellow onions 1 small, cut into 1 cm dice
100 g	Carrots 1 medium, cut into 1 cm dice
60 g	Celery 1 stalk, cut into 1 cm dice
150 g	Potatoes 1 small, cut into 1 cm dice
150 g	Courgettes 1 small, cut into 1 cm dice
80 g	Green beans a handful, cut into 2 cm lengths
120 g	Swiss chard, stalks and leaves 3 leaves with their stalks, washed and checked leaf by leaf, cut into 1 cm strips; or finely sliced white cabbage, leaves checked
10 g	Garlic 2 cloves
20 g	Double-concentrated tomato purée 1 tbsp
400 g	Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin) 1 whole 400 g tin with its juice
240 g	Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin) 1 × 400 g tin, giving 240 g drained beans; mash 3 tbsp
140 g	Ditalini (small tubular soup pasta) 70 g per person; small tubes with an 8–10 minute cooking time on the packet
50 g	Parmesan or Grana Padano (250 g piece) a piece of rind weighing about 20 g (5 × 3 cm) for the broth, 30 g grated to serve
3 g	Fresh rosemary 1 sprig
0.3 g	Dried bay leaves 1 leaf
40 g	Extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp for the base, 1 tbsp to drizzle over after cooking
15 g	Fresh basil 1 small handful of leaves, washed and checked
12 g	Fine salt 3 g with the soffritto, 5 g with the water, 0–4 g to taste before adding the pasta
0.5 g	Ground black pepper 2 pinches
1000 g	Water 800 g hot water at the start, 200 g boiling water to adjust while the pasta cooks

Method

Peel and cut the onion, carrot, celery and potato into 1 cm dice, keeping the potato separate. Trim the green beans and cut into 2 cm lengths. Wash and check the chard, then cut into 1 cm strips, stalks included. Peel the garlic and crush it in a garlic press. Drain and rinse the white beans; mash 3 tbsp with a fork in a bowl. Heat 800 g water in the kettle.
Heat 30 g oil in a 4 litre stockpot over a medium-low heat. Soften the onion, carrot and celery with 3 g salt for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, without browning: the onion should be translucent and soft, and the carrot glossy. Meanwhile, cut the courgette into 1 cm dice.
Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then add the tomato purée and stir for 1–2 minutes, until it darkens, catches slightly on the bottom and smells of roasted tomatoes. Add the diced potato and stir for 1 minute to coat.
Pour in the tomatoes, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add the courgette, green beans, whole and mashed white beans, rosemary sprig, bay leaf, Parmesan rind, pepper, 5 g salt and 800 g hot water. Bring to a simmer, half cover and cook for 15 minutes over a low heat. Add the chard and cook for another 10 minutes: the potato should crush against the side of the pot under the spoon and begin to thicken the broth, and the chard stalks should be tender.
Remove the rosemary, bay leaf and any remaining Parmesan rind. Taste the broth and adjust with the remaining salt: it should be well seasoned, as the pasta will absorb it. Bring the reserved 200 g water back to the boil in the kettle. Add the ditalini and cook uncovered at a gentle boil for the packet time plus 1 minute, or 9–11 minutes, stirring right to the bottom every 2 minutes; add boiling water in 50 g portions whenever the pasta is no longer covered or the soup becomes too thick.
Taste a piece of pasta: it should be tender with a slight bite in the centre, and the soup should flow from the ladle. Turn off the heat, stir in the torn basil and leave to stand for 2 minutes. Serve in two large shallow bowls, drizzling each with 5 g olive oil and sprinkling with 15 g grated Parmesan. There will be enough for seconds: the pasta will keep absorbing the broth, so loosen the remaining soup with a little boiling water.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.

Lighter version

Ditalini (small tubular soup pasta) : 100 g
Extra virgin olive oil : 25 g
Parmesan or Grana Padano (250 g piece) : 40 g

In step 2, use 20 g oil for the soffritto.

In step 6, drizzle each bowl with 2–3 g olive oil and add 10 g grated Parmesan; keep the 20 g rind in the broth.

Less pasta, oil and cheese: the same broth, with more vegetables in each spoonful.

On your plate

Recipe

815 kcal · protein 32 g · carbs 93 g · fat 32 g

Quantities per person

50 g Yellow onions
50 g Carrots
30 g Celery
75 g Potatoes
75 g Courgettes
40 g Green beans
60 g Swiss chard, stalks and leaves
5 g Garlic
10 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
200 g Tinned chopped tomatoes (400 g tin)
120 g Tinned cannellini beans (400 g tin)
70 g Ditalini (small tubular soup pasta)
25 g Parmesan or Grana Padano (250 g piece)
1.5 g Fresh rosemary
0.15 g Dried bay leaves
20 g Extra virgin olive oil
7.5 g Fresh basil
6 g Fine salt
0.25 g Ground black pepper
500 g Water

Cooking tips

The Parmesan rind is the secret to the broth: keep Parmesan rinds in the freezer for this purpose. To make the soup the day before, stop before adding the pasta and refrigerate. The next day, reheat with 200 g water, bring to a gentle boil, check the salt, then cook the pasta. Leftovers that already contain cooked pasta need 100–150 g boiling water added when reheating. For a pareve version (after a meat lunch, for example), omit the Parmesan and finish with pistou (Ligurian pesto without cheese): pound or blend the basil with half a garlic clove, 15 g pine nuts and the 10 g finishing oil, then add a spoonful to each bowl.

Equipment : 4 litre stockpot (24 cm) with a lid, kettle, garlic press, grater, wooden spoon

Italian minestrone di verdure as made by the nonnas: soffritto, potatoes, green vegetables and chard, with a Parmesan rind in the broth; finished with pistou for the Ligurian version.

Minestrone with white beans and small pasta

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On your plate

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Cooking tips

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