SPRING MINESTRONE
Minestrone is one of the world’s iconic vegetable soups with its origin goes all the way back to the Roman Empire in pre 2nd century BC where Romans recognized the health benefits of a vegetarian diet (1). There are a few regional variations of this soup throughout Italy and this week’s recipe is one more incarnation using a bunch of delicious spring vegetables…….Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 6 green onions
- 2 green garlic stalks, or 2 large garlic cloves
- 1 pound baby potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 15-ounce can of diced tomatoes
- 1 quart vegetable or chicken stock
- Salt
- 1/2 pound artichoke hearts chopped roughly
- 1 15-ounce can of chickpeas
- 1 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 cups greens (dandelion, chard, spinach, kale, arugula, etc), sliced into thin ribbons
- Up to 1/4 cup pesto
- Grated parmesan or pecorino cheese for garnish
Method
1 Prep green onions, green garlic, potatoes, artichoke hearts: Chop the green onions and green garlic and separate the white and light green parts from the green tops. If you are using regular garlic cloves, put them with the white parts of the green onions. Slice the potatoes and artichoke hearts into chunks you would want to eat with a spoon.
2 Sauté white parts of green onions and garlic, add potatoes: In a large pot set over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the white parts of the green onions as well as the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, stir to combine and cook 1 minute.
3 Add tomatoes, stock, salt, then simmer: Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and the quart of vegetable or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, then cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
4 Add artichoke hearts, then chickpeas, green peas, then asparagus, garlic and onion greens: Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 5 minutes, then add the chickpeas and green peas and cook another 5 minutes. Remove the cover from the soup and add the asparagus. Cook 2 minutes. Add the greens and the green parts from the green onions and green garlic, if using. Stir well to combine and cook 1 minute.
5 Add pesto, cheese: Turn off the heat and stir in the pesto. Serve topped with grated cheese.
(1)wikipedia Original recipe and image courtesy of www.simplyrecipes.com
