Minestrone di verdura

(Minestrone with vegetables)

Minestrone is a course very rich of vegetables and the more vegetables and the better it is, so the best period to cook it is summer. At the bottom of a pot fry lightly some good olive oil, slices of onions and garlic, then add tepid water to cover the 2/3 of the pot and salt. Then add the vegetables cut as dices (carrots, potatoes, courgettes, peas, shelled beans, French beans, slices of celery rib, chopped cabbage and "pepolino"). Boil it until it reaches a full cooking, than add some leaves of beet and pieces of ripe tomatoes. Boil in a different pot 2 or 3 potatoes and some beans which will be combed in the same pot.

Then cook all this foodstuff very slowly. Minestrone can be served with grated Parmesan cheese or ,in a less thick broth is it possible to cook short pasta; at least it is possible to pour both the broth and vegetables on fried pieces of bread.

Text Tebaldo Lorini
Picture by Kee-Ho Casati
Translated by Gianna Toni