In The Wild Heart Kitchen

My Hearty Minestrone Soup contains seasonal vegetables, beans, pasta, garlicky mounds of broccoli rabe, piles of cheese and a luxurious glug of extra virgin olive oil.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but we are past the hump of dark season. Each day will stay a little lighter, a little longer. Though the weather forecast for the coming week is calling for tempts in the high 50’s (aka New England fool’s spring), don’t break out the shorts and flipflops just yet….February is still upon us and we need a hearty meal to fight off the February blues.

The best way to get through until spring? Well…the answer is simple….soup. But not just any soup. Minestrone soup. But wait wait! I don’t mean those boring ones. I mean my version.

Minestrone is the Italian soup of wonder, which, traditionally, can be created out of whatever a cook has on hand. Minestrone contains seasonal vegetables, beans, sometimes pasta or, in northern Italy, stale bread. This soup, in particular, always comes to my rescue during the winter dinner rush. The days are still short, the kids get home from school in a pile of coats and mittens and I scramble to figure out what’s for dinner. Minestrone will come to your rescue every time with a simple grab and go ingredients list out of your pantry and whatever leftover vegetables your fridge has to offer. It’s a weekly staple at our home during the colder months (and even the warmer ones) because it’s quick, nourishing, and versatile. Swap the optional pasta for potato, swap in kale for spinach, add shredded green cabbage, etc. You can switch out ingredients for what you have on hand, just be sure to keep the ratios the same as the recipe calls for. I find this soup so hardy that I left the pasta as optional. Create your own soup profile that best fits your mood, personality, or available ingredients. 

My Version of Hearty Minestrone Soup Is Life Changing:

While the ingredients for minestrone soups are all relatively familiar, my version encompasses all my favorites. I sauté fennel instead of celery. And if you’ve been an avid reader of my recipes, you’ll know I champion fennel….that controversial yet perfect veggie. So listen, I’ve said it once, will say it again, COOKED fennel does NOT taste like anise. I promise. I really do. You’ll just adore it. I find the fennel gives this soup rich flavor.

Now, to the beans. It’s important to choose the correct bean for a recipe and for this soup….that would be butter beans. I love butter beans for minestrone…I do I do I do. You can 100% use cannellini beans here and they will be amazing and little plump packages of creaminess. But butter beans are big and personal and simmer up almost in a delicate nature in this soup. They have the correct proportions and toothsome bite needed to compliment the texture of the other veggies in this soup. Give them a try, you won’t go back. Promise.

Don’t Forget the Broccoli Rabe!

So, I realize I’ve been making a lot of promises in this blog post. Promises about the fennel, then a huge politician promise about you’re new found love of butter beans. But I have one more promise. And that promise is how I’ll change your life with topping this soup with a big garlicky heapin’ pile of broccoli rabe sautéed in garlic and chili flakes on top. This is an unusual choice to top a soup with, however the sharpness and brightness of the broccoli rabe counters the richness and earthiness from the soup and pulls the whole thing together…especially with the grated cheese on top. Just, do it once. Even though the broccoli rabe is sautéed it still brings a fresh element to this soup, which is very very cooked. This is life altering soup advice here! Embrace it!

Finishing Touches:

My Hearty Minestrone Soup is perfect as is. However, I highly, deeply, sincerely, recommend serving it over a whole wheat pasta with squiggly edges. I can’t explain it and I am by no means an authority on this subject, but squiggly edged pasta just taste better because it catches all those lovely bits of soup in the pasta and it’s just perfect.

The next suggestion (other than piling this soup high with cheese) is drizzling each bowl of soup with a hearty glug of good quality extra virgin olive oil. This is simply the Italian way to finish off any bowl of soup, pasta, salad, bowl of cereal (ok maybe not), etc. The oil gives the soup a buttery, rich, earthy finish. Now, one may ask what is a good quality oil. Well, it’s really any olive oil you love that you can see yourself eating all by itself. Most grocery stores has nicer extra virgin olive oils in stock. They are what you may dress a salad with or finish a dish with. So go peruse and see what you fall in love with.

SO! That was a lot of information but well worth it!

For tonight, Sunday night….that night when no one quite knows what to make for dinner….serve up bowls of minestrone soup piled high with snowy mountains of cheese alongside big wedges of crusty bread and a great big, crisp salad. As my mother says, “it will hit the spot” for supper tonight and sustain you for the remainder of winter. 

Print Recipe

Hearty Minestrone Soup

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Total Time2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course: Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: baked pasta, cheese, minestrone, soup, vegetarian

Servings: 6

Author: wildheartkitchen

Ingredients

For the Soup:

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup onion diced (1 large onion)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fennel small chop (1 medium fennel), outer fibrous layer removed, top fronds reserved
• 2 cup zucchini small chop (2 large zucchini)
• 1½ tablespoon fresh rosemary minced, see notes
• 1 cup carrot small chop (2-3 carrot)
• 3 tablespoon garlic cloves pressed
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning crushed between fingers
• Pinch chili flakes
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme crushed between fingers
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 15.5 oz cans of butterbeans heavily rinsed and drained
• rounded ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt plus more to taste
• 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
• 1½ cups water, or more vegetable stock see notes
• 3 dried bay leaves
• 2.5 cups dinosaur/lacinato kale stems removed, cut in very thin ribbons
• heel of parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese roughly 3"x2", see note
• pasta of choice optional
• parmesan cheese or pecorino romano cheese for serving
• drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil for serving, see notes

For the Broccoli Rabe Topping:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• small pinch red chili flakes
• 1½ tablespoon garlic cloves pressed
• 1 large bunch broccoli rabe cut into 1½ inched pieces, washed but still slightly damp
• large pinch kosher salt

Instructions

For the soup:

• In a four quart heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.
• Add the onions and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Saute the onions for 8-10 minutes, stirring often. Cook until the onions have begun to brown and turn translucent.
• Add the fennel and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring often.
• Add the zucchini and stir. Cook for 3-5 minutes until zucchini begins to turn golden.
• Add the carrots, rosemary and the garlic and stir. Cook for about 40 seconds or until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
• Add the tomato paste and stir until vegetables are coated.
• Add the butter beans, crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, pinch of chili flakes, dried thyme, dried oregano, rounded ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, vegetable stock, water and stir well.
• Add the bay leaves and reserved fennel fronds.
• Bring soup to a boil, lower to simmer, cover and cook for 1½ hours. Stir occasionally.
• Add the kale and heel of the cheese. Partially cover the soup with the lid and it simmer in for 30 minutes then carefully the cheese. (Eat it as a chef's snack! while its still warm)
• If you want pasta with this soup: boil it in a separate pot till al dente according to the pasta package's directions. When done cooking, rinse slightly under water and set aside to drain.

For the Broccoli Rabe:

• Heat the olive over medium heat In a large skillet (with a tight fitting lid).
• Add the garlic and chili flakes and sauté for no more than a minute, until the garlic begins to turn very light brown.
• Carefully add the damp broccoli rabe to the pan, quickly toss it through with the garlic and immediate secure the lid. Slightly adjust the flame to medium-low heat and allow the broccoli rabe to cook for 2-3 minutes until it has turned bright green and the stalks are tender when pierced with a fork.
• Remove the cover, sprinkle the broccoli rabe with a bit of kosher salt and sauté until any water in the pan has cooked off, about 3-5 minutes.
• Remove form the heat and set aside.
• To serve the soup, ladle into bowls and pile high with parmesan cheese or pecorino romano, a serious drizzle of good quality olive oil and enjoy!

Notes

Rosemary: The amount of rosemary called for in this recipe is only suitable for fresh not dried. 

Olive oil: Giving each bowl soup a hearty drizzle of good quality olive oil is the Italian way of enjoying a bowl of minestrone. It add a perfectly buttery finish. Find an extra virgin olive oil that tastes delicious to you!

Water: I like to add a little water as my cooking liquid to lower the sodium content of my soups. However, you can absolutely replace the water with more vegetable stock. 

A version of this recipe, along with one of these photos, was initially published by myself in Whisk from Ami Magazine. Subscribe to their magazine for more amazing recipes!