Baby It's cold outside....what shall I cook?

Hi, 

My God it's cold out there....!!!

Whenever it's cold out, I start thinking about cooking soups or stews or pot roasts. Really hardy meals. Meals that will warm you up from the inside out.

Today, I'm going to make a minestrone. This is going to be easy!

Step 1....let's clean out the fridge.

Ingredients: Any combination of these veggies will do...whatever you have on hand. Got other veggies in there?....go ahead add in. This is not rocket science. Add away. I usually stay away from peppers though....I'm not fond of them in the soup.

Onions,

celery,

carrots,

spinach,

potatoes,

sweet potatoes,

zuchinni

cabbage

leeks

kale

any greens

string beans

 

Ok, now what I do is I cut everything up into bite size pieces. I put everything into a pot and I add a good soup stock (store bought will do) or if I don't have any stock available, I add a couple of great big heaping tablespoons of Knorr's Chicken instant stock mix (to taste). Add a can of chopped tomatoes. Now set it on the stove and let it boil. You will know when its done because your veggies will be fork tender. At this point I put in a can of Romano beans or canellini beans (I like the white variety) but you put in what you have on hand. How will you know how much instant soup stock mix to add? Add in a couple of tablespoons, boil away and taste, keep adding and tasting till you feel it's flavoured to your liking!

In my house, we like our minestrone "blended", so I use the hand blender to blend till smooth. If it's a really big pot, you can blend in batches in your blender. 

I put it back on the stove and I add in the rind end of a piece of parmigianno regianno or grana padana cheese. This gives the soup a delicious silky backdrop of cheesy goodness. Just let that rind cook away in the pot...it gets nice and gooey! We also add in uncooked rice or barley. I'm not particularly fond of pasta in my soup. In my house we usually add the rice or barley. Cook away on a low simmer, stirring occasionally until the rice or barley is cooked.

To serve, grate in a nice amount of regianno or grana and add in pepper to taste. I feel the more cheese you add...the better it tastes.  I like a lot of pepper so I put a nice amount in...but you put in what you like.

This is a hearty soup. If you are serving it as a primo, or 1st course, a small bowl will do. If you are serving it as a main, serve a nice big bowl and serve it with some nice crusty warm Italian bread.

Mmmmmm that will warm up your bones. Enjoy!