Minestrone soup – Italian recipe (VIDEO)

Sonia cooks a delicious and hearty minestrone soup, a healthy dish that you can personalize with your favourite vegetables!

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Look at the amazing colours of my vegetables… yes, I know, it will take some time to wash and clean them, but it will be worth it, because I’ll make a delicious and hearty minestrone soup, with a few tips of mine. Would you like to know how? We’ll cook it together!
To prepare the minestrone soup, first of all make a mirepoix: take a pot, large enough to hold all the vegetables, heat a little oil, then add the carrot, the celery, the onion and the garlic, that have been finely diced, as you can see.
When the mirepoix is lightly browned, add the whole piece of bacon, in case you want to remove it when the soup is ready… in this way, the flavour of vegetables is enhanced by bacon fat. As you can see, I’ve already prepared the other vegetables: cut the tomatoes into cubes removing the inner seeds, do the same with the pumpkin, the potatoes and the zucchini, chop the leek and cut the cauliflower into small florets; since they are not in season, I’m using precooked beans and frozen peas, but if they are in season you can buy and shell the fresh ones, of course. So, once the bacon is browned, add the vegetables: pumpkin and potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, leek, cauliflower, beans, and peas. Now add enough cold water… to cover all the vegetables.
When the water comes to a boil, add salt and the Parmesan rinds. Let the vegetables simmer gently until cooked.
The vegetables are cooked, so turn off the heat, add the chopped parsley and basil, salt and pepper to taste and, finally, drizzle a little oil. The minestrone soup is ready to be served!
Mmmh… it’s simply delicious! It’s needless to say that you can use any vegetable you like, or include the vegetables in season. Another tip is to serve the minestrone soup with toasted bread slices and grated parmesan cheese on the side, so your guests can help themselves as desired. From Sonia and Giallozafferano, bye bye and see you next videorecipe!

Ingredients for 6-8 servings
• 1/3 lb (150 g) of leek
• 1/3 lb (150 g) of cauliflower
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of tomatoes
• 2 zucchini
• 2 potatoes
• 7 oz (200 g) of frozen peas • 7 oz (200 g) of canned pinto beans, drained weight
• 7 oz (200 g) of pumpkin
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 bunch of basil
• 2 Parmesan rinds
• 1,5 oz (40 g) of smoked bacon
• olive oil to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• water as needed