Hearty minestrone (prodigy)
6 Servings
Ingredients
| Quantity | Ingredient | |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ | pounds | Dried beans |
| Salt | ||
| 1 | Celery stalk | |
| ¼ | pounds | Savoy cabbage |
| 2 | smalls | Boiling potatoes |
| ¼ | cup | Drained canned plum tomatoes |
| 2½ | tablespoon | Chopped onion |
| 2 | Basil leaves | |
| ¼ | teaspoon | Dried thyme |
| 2 | tablespoons | Olive oil |
| Freshly ground black pepper | ||
| 3 | ounces | Imported Italian pasta |
Directions
THE NIGHT BEFORE, pick over the beans, rinse them, and let them soak in a large bowl of cold water. Next day, drain the beans, put them into a large pot and cover with 4 cups water. Add ½ teaspoon salt, bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 1-to-1½ hours, until the beans are nearly tender. Wash and cut into bite-size pieces the celery, cabbage and potato. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Chop the onion, basil, and thyme together. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and soften the onion mixture in it for 5 minutes. Add the celery, cabbage, potato, tomato, ¼ teaspoon salt, and several grindings of black pepper. Toss everything to coat it with the oil, then add ⅓ cup warm water. Cover and cook gently 20 minutes, until the vegetables are almost tender. When the beans are ready, scoop out about a quarter of them and puree them through a food mill back into the pot. Add the vegetables from the saute pan and all their juices.
Bring the soup to a boil and stir in the pasta. Cook until the pasta is done, 10 to 12 minutes. Taste for seasoning.
TOM MARESCA AND DIANE DARROW - PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK