Minestrone Experiment

Yesterday I got a craving. I know, I know. Pregnant lady with a craving? Weird, right? But I figure a craving for minestrone is a pretty healthy one! I had been thinking about our friend Wendy who is an AMAZING cook. We had dinner at their house well over a year ago, maybe even 2, (for the record, we have gotten together with them more recently as well) when she made the most amazing minestrone I have ever had. And let me tell you, I have had a lot of minestrone! I have even tried making it once or twice, but it was never memorable. I think one of my mistakes was using big pieces of pasta that just ended up soaking up the soup and that is no fun! Or it would end up too watery without much flavor.
Minestrone is kind of an amazing soup because it is different everywhere you go. Some people use pesto. Some use a beef base, some veggie, tomato, or bean. Some use cabbage, pasta and special vegetables. I knew I didn't want cabbage in it. I just don't like my leafy greens wilting away in my soup.
Needless to say, beyond that, I didn't really know where to start, so I went to the source and emailed my minestrone muse, Wendy. She gave me some good tips.  She recommended to start by sweating onions, carrots, celery with garlic, peppers and zuccini in olive oil. Then she adds stock, peeled tomatoes, a rind of parmesan (aha! the secret ingredient!), bay leaf, fresh thyme and oregano. She then said to simmer, season and add white beans, green beans. I thought her most interesting piece of advice was to not add inappropriate vegetables. I definitely kept that in mind when I went to the store. I had come across some recipes that called for butternut squash and things like that, that I had never seen in minestrone before. Then you can add pasta at the end.

I felt well armed and ready to hit the store. I tried to imagine Wendy standing over me and saying "No inappropriate vegetables!" So I bypassed the squash and the asparagus, especially since I am making some chili crusted tofu with asparagus later in the week anyway. Unfortunately they were out of green beans and Callie isn't really a fan of bell peppers, so I left the store without those particular items.

So here are the ingredients I worked with:
2 cans of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed
1 potato (that might be considered inappropriate, but I can't say no to potatoes in soup!)
minced garlic
olive oil
carrots
peeled tomatoes ( I was pressed for time so I bought ones in a can even though I had some in the garden. I know...I feel ashamed)
zucchini
salt
1/2 - 2/3 cup white wine (I opted for Grgich Hills Fume Blanc since Whole Foods had it in a half bottle)
bay leaf
Parmesan cheese rind
herbs from the garden (since I forgot to buy herbs at the store!): basil, sage, oregano, rosemary

And here is what I did.

Heated up some olive oil in a big pot and added crushed garlic. Then added the vegetables: potato, carrots, zucchini and salt. Cooked them for about 5 minutes. While the vegetables were cooking, I cut up my tomatoes. I quartered them. Next time I think I would cut them even smaller. The chunks just ended up too big. I also took half of my beans and blended them with 1/2 cup of water to make a bean paste to help thicken the soup. Once your vegetables are softening and getting nice and sweaty, I added the wine. It might be because I'm pregnant and I can't really drink, but OH MY GOD. It smelled amazing! Then I added the herbs, beans, bean paste, tomatoes, Parmesan rind and some chicken broth. I brought it to a boil and then simmered it for about 25-30 minutes. Near the end I added some orzo. Once the pasta was cooked enough we took it off the stove, chilled some for callie and ate. We served it with a couple of pieces of olive oil and rosemary bread.

So here is my verdict.
This was definitely my best attempt so far. I am not quite convinced in my minestrone abilities quite yet. Of course by the time we packed away the leftovers for lunches, the orzo had swelled to about 3 times its size. Ugh. I know by the time I have it for lunch today there won't be much liquid left. I might opt out of pasta completely next time. Or cook it separately and ahead of time instead of in the soup.
I also think I would cook the vegetables longer. They were cooked well, but the carrots were still a bit crunchy and it was a little distracting from the rest of the soup. I think I would add more tomatoes next time as well. I do like the tomatoey taste in minestrone.
The nice thing about the soup was that you really got to taste the vegetables, but I think I need more seasoning next time. Maybe some pepper and some other italian herbs like marjoram? I don't know. The thickness at the time was very nice with the bean paste.
Its still a work in progress, but I think it was a good start! Thank you Wendy!!

Callie's Verdict
Callie loooved the beans and the pasta and not much else:) She did go for a couple of pieces of zucchini but definitely not the carrots. I think they probably weren't soft enough for her liking.

*Sadly, I did not think to take pictures of this one. Oh well. Sorry folks!*