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The garden minestrone I'm making today calls
for tomatoes, actually these mini mix tomatoes.
They're small different varieties, they have thin skins
and they're very, very sweet, but what's different
about this recipe is the way I'm using them.
Well you know what, join me in the kitchen later
and I'll show you. Leeks are another ingredient
in this garden minestrone. They sort of look like
a green onion on steroids, but they're really not that bold,
in fact, when you cook them they're very sweet
and they're very mild. You can cut them up yourself
if you want, buy them like that or you can pick them up
in a convenience package already cleaned and cut,
ready to cook. This Jus de Poulet
chicken demi glace is the last ingredient
I need for this recipe. You can actually find it
in the same isle with the broths and the soups.
A demi glace is really a concentrated chicken stock,
but that takes a lot of time to do at home.
So you may not want to do that. You might prefer to buy it
already made for you. It really adds a lot
of richness to this recipe. I'm starting out to build
some flavor in this minestrone by adding a little bit
of olive oil, about two table spoons
to my stock pot along with some pancetta,
one package of pancetta, that's about four ounces,
cut it into small pieces. Just stir that around
a little bit and then cook that
on medium about six to eight minutes until it's
rendered its fat. Okay, and more flavor
by adding some garlic. We actually have five cloves
of garlic cut into small pieces here,
a sort of a large mince in this case. And we have two large leeks
cut in half and then cut again into slices.
And we're going to stir that around to coat everything
evenly with a little bit of the fat from the pancetta
and the oil and then reduce this to low heat and let that
cook in there for about ten minutes until the leeks
are nice and soft. Next step is to add
our fingerling potatoes. This is one package of fingerlings
cut into about half-inch dice. So just add that to your pot
along with three containers of beef culinary stock.
And once that's all in there we're going to bring this
to a simmer on high and then reduce the heat to low
and maintaining it at a gentle simmer
and letting that cook for about 15 minutes or so until
the potatoes are totally tender. Okay, in go the veggies.
We have two zucchini cut into a small dice
and two goldbar yellow squash also cut into a small dice
and in they go along with about a cup
of ditalini rigati pasta. That's about a cup right there
and then we have the demi glace, the chicken demi glace
that goes in here too that really enriches the sauce
and we have two cans of cannellini beans
that have been drained and in they go.
And finally, we're adding just a little salt and pepper to season.
You can even wait until the end to season if you want.
You don't have to put it in here absolutely.
So let's just give this a little grinding of pepper.
And we're gonna continue to simmer this for about
15 minutes until the veggies are nice and tender.
Okay, the soup is done. The pasta is cooked nice
and al dente, but tender. So we're gonna ladle this
right into our serving bowl, right on top
of the raw fresh tomatoes. Now the recipe that we give you,
there is a recipe for a basil and garlic purŽe,
but if you don't want to make your own
you could also use this wonderful Italian Classics Pesto
which has many of the same ingredients in it.
And just dollop really on top. Look how fresh that looks.
And then just another little added touch,
a little shaving of fresh reggiano-parmigiano,
and with a peeler you can just do that
and add that right to the top and there you have it
all ready to serve, easy, fresh,
and absolutely delicious.