For our next soup…did I tell you I make at least one soup a week 😁?…Today I made a Minestra di Fagioli but kind of my own adapted version. It will my/our lunch for a few days. It is very healthy, and of course yummy. I did do more than you have to because I made my own stock and cooked the dry beans. But, Hey! I’ve got time. You could use canned stock and canned cannellini beans to save time. I make stock out of many things. This time it was vegetable leavings, you know, the stuff you normally throw away, which I freeze, and the rinds of pecorino cheese which we save for this purpose. The cheese adds quite a lot of flavor. You can even make just plain cheese stock using the rinds, which I’ve done.
I cooked the normal starting ingredients used in most of the world it seems, carrot, celery, onion, in olive oil. Next a couple chopped garlic cloves for 30 seconds. Then I added a sprig of rosemary, a branch of thyme, and a bay leaf. I add the entire branches/sprigs, then remove. Next I added the cooked cannellini beans with cooking liquid (a couple cans worth at least), the stock (about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts), the cleaned, de-stemmed and chopped cavolo nero (black kale sometimes called Tuscan kale in the US), and one potato chopped small. I simmered it for about an hour until the beans and potatoes were softened enough to disintegrate a little into the sauce to thicken it some. Adjust the salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. I served it drizzled with some good olive oil. Ta da!! 🎺🎺
Buon appetito!
Oh, I adore cold soups in the summer. Gazpacho is one of my favorites. Also cold cucumber soup. I make soups for lunches. Mostly meatless. If I add meat it becomes a main dinner for us. But we are very fond of beans! 🙂 Buona fine di settimana! (Have a good weekend!) nancy
Soup is always a meal here in the Winter time….I do love a cold Gazpacho in the summer time for a light dinner.
Hi Sharon. I save all the bits of rind and when I get a good amount I tie it into cheesecloth (to keep it from dropping to the bottom and melting onto the pot). I boiled in a good bit of water for a couple hours. Had some black peppercorns in there and this time, vegetable leavings. But I’ve made it before with just cheese. It smells great when simmering.
Namcy. Sounds like my cup of tea. but how do u
Make the broth from cheese rind?
A very good soup for wintertime, Linda. We eat soup a lot in the winter. Not in the summer. Then it’s more salads.
👍🙂
Simple recipe, a lot of time, and flavors I am sure are wonderful..
Brava!! I just finished breakfast here in chilly Pennsylvania, but I’m now hungry for soup….