Thoughts on minestrone

One thing you’ll discover about me is that I like stews, soups and chilis – things that simmer on the stove or cook slowly in the oven and make my house smell great.  It has to come from when I was a kid and would come home to great smells and know right away what was for dinner.  I make some of those dishes today and get the same reaction from my kids.  Ha!  Like I’d give you THOSE recipes.  J  Okay, fine, just hold your horses – I’ll get to ‘em.  Anyway, I think houses smell more like homes when they smell good and food can definitely make a place smell good!  While perusing my still-growing new homemade cookbook, I came across a recipe for a minestrone bowl (Cooking Light, year unknown).  Now, I love me some vegetables!  I could be a vegetarian….except for the fact that I like steak and chicken and pork entirely too much to let them go so I would totally lose my vegetarian card in a New York minute.  Anyway, I really do love vegetables and vegetable soups and I’ve made some pretty good minestrone before.  This recipe intrigued me because it wasn’t a soup – it was a “bowl”.  Kinda like what you might find at a food cart in China or Japan or something.  Okay, honesty check here – I’ve never been to either of those places but that’s what it made me think of.  And, I think it’s like some items I’ve seen before on a Chinese or Japanese menu.  Just go with it.

The minestrone bowl itself is pretty straightforward – you’ll likely have the ingredients on hand and, if not, there’s probably not too much you’ll have to buy.  It calls for cannellini beans, which are white kidney beans.  If you can’t find those – and not all grocery stores carry them – you can substitute any other white bean like Navy or Great Northern and they will work just fine.  It also calls for linguine but I think that’s pretty negotiable too.  Now, I’m not sure how well a penne or a rigatoni would work (but who am I to judge? Go for it!) but spaghetti will definitely work here if you don’t have linguine or just plain don’t want to buy it.  The linguine is a flatter noodle so I guess it’s better for slurping but I’ve seen some spaghetti slurping masters in my day and besides, recipes are just guides, not gospel. J

I was so excited about this dish – I chopped up all my veggies and got everything all prepped.  I even had some bread that I threw on the grill to warm up so we could sop up all that brothy goodness.  I’m sure by my words that you can guess what happened next.  This bowl was SO BLAND!!!  And, it was WAY soupier than the picture in the magazine led me to believe it would be.  I was so disappointed in it and I really HATE to be disappointed with something I’ve cooked.  It makes me feel like I’ve failed in a way.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I know it wasn’t my fault but still.  I like what I cook to be good!  Who doesn’t?  I do need to add that I didn’t have the ham – totally forgot to buy it at the grocery store (don’t ask me why it didn’t get on my list – I have no explanation except “oops”. My husband suggested bacon and, while bacon does make everything better, I didn’t think it would add the right flavor to this dish.  Well, shame on me, bacon probably would have made this better.) but I’m not sure how much a difference the ham would have added since it was such a small amount.  If I decide to make this again, I’ll make sure to add the ham and I will definitely be adding some seasoning.  It struck me as odd that the recipe didn’t call for any seasoning until the end – it definitely needs to be seasoned throughout or at least when the veggies are sautéing.  Also, I would probably not use all water – I think I would try vegetable broth instead just to add some extra flavor.  Seriously, I cannot believe how bland this dish was.  So frustrating.

Here’s the recipe – proceed with knowledge.  Happy cooking, eating and drinking!

½ cup sun-dried tomatoes

2 cups boiling water

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups chopped lower-salt ham (about 8 ounces)

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrot

1 cup chopped celery

5 garlic cloves, chopped

6 cups water

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced

1 (16-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon black pepper

3 ½ cups hot cooked linguine (about 7 ounces uncooked pasta)

¼ cup plus 2 teaspoons (about 1 ounce) grated fresh parmesan cheese

1.  Combine the sun-dried tomatoes and boiling water in a bowl; let stand 30 minutes.  Drain through sieve into a bowl, reserving sun-dried tomatoes and soaking liquid.  Cut tomatoes into julienne strips.

2.  Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, ham, and next 4 ingredients (ham through garlic), and sauté 5 minutes.  Add reserved soaking liquid, 6 cups water, and diced tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.  Add zucchini and beans; cook 5 minutes. Stir in basil, salt and pepper.  Place pasta into each of 7 large bowls; top with broth mixture and cheese.  Yield: 7 servings (serving size: ½ cup pasta, 2 cups broth mixture, and 2 teaspoons cheese).

Calories 319 (21% from fat); Fat 7.4g (sat 2.1g, mono 3.3g, poly1.4g); Protein 17.1g; Carb 48.1g; Fiber 5.5g; Cholesterol 22mg; Iron 4mg; Sodium 822mg; Calcium 139mg.