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Eat for Eight Bucks: Minestrone Recipe

Eat for Eight Bucks: Minestrone Recipe
  • Category

    Mains

  • Cusine

    American

Ingredients

1 cup dried cannellini, borlotti, or garbanzo beans

Olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into bite-size pieces

4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

5 thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

2 teaspoons salt

1 pound turnips, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces, greens washed and chopped if attached

1/2 pound yellow potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces

Grated Parmesan cheese to garnish

Directions

Cook the dried beans. Store them in their cooking liquid until you are ready to proceed. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in your soup pot over a medium flame. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook until tender and a rich golden brown, 15-20 minutes. While this soffritto cooks, cook the chopped cabbage in boiling salted water until tender enough to eat. When the cabbage is finished, leave it in a colander to drain. When the soffritto is soft and dark , add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf, and salt. Stir and cook 5 minutes more. Then add 3 cups water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, add the turnips and potatoes . Simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes and turnips are tender enough to eat. Taste for salt. Add the cooked beans, 1 cup of bean cooking liquid, and the cabbage. Simmer for 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add more bean cooking liquid.