Soupruary 26th: Minestrone

I decided it would be fun to look up Minestrone on Wikipedia since it's such a classic soup, and I was right! Fun! I learned that the word minestrone comes from minestra (soup) and the suffix -one to make it literally mean "the big soup." Fun, right? I also learned that the Roman armies were said to have survived on minestrone. Double fun! Also, probably violent.

Location:
My apartment, the party room, Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendees:
Cybelle, Erin, Janice, Lauren, Sara, Sirli, me


Why are there so many bottles of wine on the table? FridayThursday!

Menu:
Soup + Salad + Cheese + Hummus + Bread + Lemon Cookies

Entertainment:
Trying to take pictures of Erin to prove she exists (she's sneaky!)
Trying to get Erin to stop doing my dishes (although I think that's my new favorite thing about her)


Trying to keep people out of my certified disaster area of a bedroom (and I use the word "bed" lightly)
Gossip and confessions that shall not be published even on a blog that only 5 people read

The Soup:
Here's my cousin Kathryn, who is (1) one week older than I, (b) incredibly beautiful, and (iii) someone who I haven't seen for more than a decade but get to talk to once in a while via the magic of Facebook. When I first posted about doing this silly experiment, Kathryn said I had to try her mom's minestrone recipe and then followed through with the recipe.


And, seriously: YUM. Lauren said it might be the best minestrone she's ever had. I don't know if I can go that far just because I think everyone likes their own mother's minestrone best, but this was different and really, undeniably, incontrovertibly good. A little smokey, a lot hearty, a lot delicious.
I did make a few additions (pasta and spinach) based on my personal taste, but other than that followed Aunt Carolyn's recipe exactly.


When going to the grocery on Wednesday night I accidentally went the wrong way on the highway and ended up in Kentucky. Oops! Dixie Hwy Kroger! They (shockingly) ended up having everything I needed, although I confused the H out of the poor deli counter boy by asking for pancetta. I had to repeat myself three times, then he had to come out from behind the counter to figure out what I was pointing at, then he still couldn't figure out what the pancetta was in order to cut it so he had to unwrap a few items and ask me which one it was, while muttering "I ain't never heard o' that..." to himself. Oh, Kentucky. You're so adorbs.

8 c Chicken Broth
1/3 c olive oil
1/4 c chopped parsley
4 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 lb diced pancetta
1 chopped onion
2 carrots, finely chopped
1 potato, diced
2 zucchini, chopped
1 28-oz can whole peeled San Marzano variety tomatoes
1/4 lb mushrooms, chopped
1/4 lb green beans, chopped
1 ham hock
2 c fresh spinach leaves
6 oz orecchiete
salt/pepper

Heat oil in large soup pot. Add parsley and garlic. Saute over medium. Add pancetta before garlic changes color. Saute until lightly brown. Add vegetables and stir. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Add broth to water and add ham hock. Simmer 40-50 minutes. Meanwhile, cook your pasta to al dente in a separate pot and shock with cold water to stop cooking. Add spinach to soup in last five minutes of simmering. Remove 1 - 1 1/2 cups and blend in food processor until smoothish and then put it back with the rest of the soup. Add your cooked pasta. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with parmesan cheese and crusty buttered bread for dipping. Its always better the next day.