Friday 1 February 2008

Minestrone alla Milanese



When Meeta of What's For Lunch Honey announced her Monthly Mingle for January was Comfort Foods,

I knew what i was going to send her. It would be SOUP. Now I just had to decide which soup.

Every lunch time we have soup. it doesn't matter if it is cold or warm weather, there will be always soup before the main meals. Aparently it is something my MIL tradition. She always served soup before the main meal and after getting married I too started doing it for lunch time.
That doesn't mean I am making fresh soup every day. When I make Soup I make them in big quantities and I freeze them in portions. Or I make fresh soup for three days and put it in a tupperware and keep for three days in the fridge.

Few times I have mentioned that mt daughter is a difficult eater when it comes to vegetables. The only vegetable she eats are peas and carrots

But when I make minestrone soup she eats the whole bowl, and come on the bowl is full of different kind of vegetables. But she remarks they don't taste bad in this soup........ that is kids for you!

I am taking a break from blogging for a week. My daughter is having her carnival holidays for a week. So I will catch up with all your delicious post on 11th February


Most of the ingridients

Fry the veggies



Soup any one????

Ingridients.
2 onions cut fine.
2 celery sticks cut fine
2 leeks cut fine100 gm bacon sliced ( vegetarians can omitt this)1 bouquet garni ( parsley, bayleaf and rosemarin tied together)
400 gm Canned chopped tomatoes. ( you can always use fresh in the season)150 gm each Potato, carrots, zucchini, cut in small squares
100 gm beans cut fine
100 gm white beans ( i use tin beanw in tomatoe sauce)
100 gm peas used tin ones
100 gm very small shaped pasta
3 litre vegetable broth.
1 garlic clove cut fine
1 tsp dried basil1tsp mixed Italian herbs
Few tbsp parsley
Peper and salt to taste
Few tbsp olive oil.

Method:
Heat the oil in a large pan.Add the onions , leeks, celery, carrots, potato, zuchinni and the bacon ( if using) and fry till they are soft.Now add the tomatoes, garlic, beans, peas and the broth.
Add the herbs and the bouquet garni , stir well.Cook for 30 minutes or till the vegetables are cooked. Now add the tinned peas and white beans and the small pasta .
Cook till the pasta is done.

I add sometimes a tbsp of concentrated tomato paste together with the tin tomatoes

53 comments:

Coffee and Vanilla said...

I have heard name of this soup many times but never knew what was inside... now I know :) Looks very comforting!

Have a good weekend, Margot

FH said...

OH MY!! I can just smell the delicious aroma Bacon and veggies cooking there!! It is such a great soup to have. We had soup last night too, will post this month!:)
Have a great weekend F, see you Monday.

Finla said...

Coffee&Vanilla It is a really delicious soup. Try them.

Asha Thankyou. Here Hans is a soup loveer, so have soup always before the meal. See you in a week Asha, Shyama is having a week of carnival holidays. So then there is not that much time to hang around ....in pc

Seena said...

Happy, thats a real surprise for me to know that you take soup every day!! Here I make it mainly for kids, both don't like veggies and eat only selected veg.Love your version, so u might have much knowledge in making various types of soups..m?

Finla said...

Seena it seems my MIL did that when hubby was still at home, so after i getting married ( first hubby made the soup till i learned to cook) i also do it.
Yeah i do a lot of different soups, i will start posting them from now on.

Kribha said...

Did I see 'soup anyone'? Oh Girl, I'm down with flu. I can surely use a bowl of that hearty soup. You are a soup expert. I love all your creations.

Mishmash ! said...

Is it possible to send me some of those tupperwares filled with soups?? :)

Rosie said...

Hi Happy,
This recipe sounds very tasty and one I would really love to try out!! So yes i'm in with your anyone for soup?! Thanks for sharing!!

Rosie x

Richa said...

u've soup everyday, wow! that sounds lovely! in fact i too would not mind it ;)
looks so temptin! enjoy...

Finla said...

Kribha thankyou. And if you were living close by i would have come with a tupperware.

Mishmash Sure why not :-)

Rosie try them. You would love it.

Richa yeah we do've soup every day. When i was at home we never had soup, only when we went out to restaurants. But then after getting married I learned to do as my MIL

Jayashree said...

Minestrone is my favourite soup.......thank you for sharing the recipe.

KonkaniBlogger said...

I love Minestrone soup, without the bacon ;)..Its so filling also, with beans, pasta and veggies in there..Yummmmm...So, You have soup everyday hanh ???Enjoy the week off...

Manju said...

hmmmm...this defenitely is comforting!! have fun during the break!!

Dhivya said...

Looks yummy,,My favorite soup..Thanks for sharing

Seema said...

Great soup & we love it too. But i omit the bacon - make it veggis only! Perfect for winter nights! Soup & Sandwich dinners.

Peter M said...

A fantastic soup, Happy and it too is one of my favourites. I'll have to make a batch soon!

TBC said...

I have to try this when I get a chance.:-)

EC said...

thats new to me...thanks for sharing

Shandy said...

What a great way to get your daughter to eat her vegetables! Yum! I love soups and I wish I was more like you, where I served them every day. What a warm and comforting idea. I am going to have to copy and save this recipe because it is so cold here and this recipe is perfect =D
Shandy@Pastry Heaven

Anonymous said...

Healthy and A neat idea to get the kids to eat veggies,...

Dwiana P said...

the soup looks delish! love the color which it even make me more drooling.

Pragyan said...

Hi HC: Soup everyday! You are great. I always say that to myself, but when it comes to making it..just too lazy!! Thanks for sharign this recipe

Uma said...

So colorful. looks yummy. Good soup for the winter.

Dori said...

Looks delicious!!! Homemade soup is the best :) See you soon!

Namratha said...

I would love a bowl of that soup Happy, wish u were close by, I would drop be for lunch everyday...hehe :D

Have fun with your daughter and the family! :)

Lavanya Raj said...

so refreshing soup. looks so nice.

Anna Haight said...

What a healthy and beautiful soup!

Anonymous said...

the vegetable soup looks good, how i would love to have some during this cold weather!
paati

Sig said...

Love minestrone soup, never cooked it at home... Looks yummy... Enjoy the break Happy Cook... :)

Laavanya said...

I love minestrone too.. as does my 2 yr old. LOve the idea of having soup before lunch everyday.
yours looks nice and hearty. Have a good break.

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

This is a nice "chock full of veggies" soup. Great idea.
Have a nice time and will see you when you are back.

Chibog in Chief said...

this is one of my favorite soup, minestrone..rich in vegetables and flavor! during cold weather like this i would love to have them on my bowl :-)

Anonymous said...

I also see soup as a wonderful comfort food and can have it any time! this looks like just another winner, to indulge in with gusto!
I have passed on a meme to you - to reveal five things about yourself and then choose 5 other people to do the same.. If you've already done it or don't care to do it, I aplogize then, you can just skip it or link to a previous post.
Ronell

Anonymous said...

Good job! I love minestrone with a little Parmesan on top. You are quite the Italian cook, aren't you ;)

Poonam said...

Ohh.. so comforting..a nice hot bowl of soup after a long cold day...mmmmm

Retno Prihadana said...

It´s really good in a cold weather. Btw, I´ve been in Brussel last weekend only 1 day!

Anonymous said...

Lovely warm and soothing. Perfect comfy food!

Mandira said...

nice comforting bowl of soup!

Pooja said...

Soup anyone?
send it all, i love it sooooo much :).
indeed a comfort food :) .

Chef Jeena said...

This looks so wonderful happy. So healthy and very comforting yum. :-)

Retno Prihadana said...

Btw, I give you a nice matter award too :)).

Mansi said...

wow, this recipe is for keeps HC! a few changes for being vegetarian and both me and my hubby would enjoy this!

have a fun and relaxing time with your daughter!!

Anonymous said...

What wonderful and delicious--and healthy!--looking soup!

Meera said...

Minestrone is our family favorite (along with french onion!) - but minus bacon ;-). but i can feel the aroma. we have really cold weather here. i don't mind a bowl or two or three! :-)

Bharathy said...

Sorry I am late here, HC!

Very wholesome and delicious soup, HC.A real meal! :)

Sugarcraft India said...

Wow!! Its a great soup..would especially have it on wintery days like now in Delhi ...would feel so warm and nice...Thanks for posting this

Cynthia said...

This dish is a celebration of all that is good with vegetables.

Finla said...

Thankyou all for you wonderful comments. Have been on a break so didn't reply to the comments.
I do have to admit i popped into other blogs once a while to see wsshat is going on :-)
Coudn't resist myself.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Ah, yes, soup is one of the ultimate comfort foods. When you're sick or cold, or just plain hungry, it always hits the spot. Yours sounds wonderful!

Raaga said...

looks so inviting :-)

Jaya M said...

its really a tasty soup seems to me .My lil one is also very picky while eating ,I guess she will love it .thanks for sharing.
hugs and smiles

Shy said...

Wow! HC this M looks good.
:- )
S

Barbara Bakes said...

Thanks for sharing this soup recipe with me! It does look fabulous!