Winter Minestrone With Pesto Croûtes Recipes

WINTER MINESTRONE AND GARLIC BRUSCHETTA

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, 6 cups of the chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. The soup should be quite thick but if it's too thick, I add more chicken stock.
• Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach, and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad). Cook just until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the white wine and pesto. Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste. Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top. Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil and serve hot.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Slice the baguette at a 45 degree angle in 1/2-inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.

WINTER MINESTRONE

Steps:

• Cook pancetta, onions, celery, and carrots in oil in a wide 7-to 9-quart heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, while preparing chard.
• Cut out stems from chard and chop stems, reserving leaves. Stir chard stems into pancetta mixture with garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender and begin to stick to bottom of pot, about 45 minutes total. (Set aside chard leaves.)
• Push vegetables to one side of pot. Add tomato paste to cleared area and cook, stirring constantly, until it starts to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir paste into vegetables and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. (Paste may stick to pot, but don't let it burn.)
• Stir in tomatoes with their juice, breaking them up with a spoon, then add hot water (3 quarts), scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot.
• Bring to a simmer. Stir in cabbage, escarole, and parmesan rind. Simmer, covered, until greens are tender, about 40 minutes.
• Coarsely chop chard leaves and stir into soup along with beans. Simmer, partially covered, 10 minutes. Discard rind. Season soup with salt and pepper. If using ditalini, stir in just before serving.

RED WINTER MINESTRONE WITH WINTER GREENS PESTO

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Strip beet greens, turnip greens, and kale from their coarse stems and wash leaves well. Working in batches, cook each bunch in boiling water until bright green and slightly limp, about 1 minute. Transfer immediately to ice water and repeat with remaining greens. Discard cooking water.
• Remove greens from ice water and squeeze out as much water as possible.
• Combine greens, 2/3 cup olive oil, 2 cloves garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in blender or food processor; blend until smooth. Transfer pesto to a bowl and cover surface with plastic wrap.
• Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in onion, grated tomato, 4 cloves minced garlic, rosemary, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, bay leaf, and chili flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes; reduce heat to low. Continue cooking and stirring until vegetables are a deep golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.
• Pour remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over onion mixture. Stir in leek, carrot, turnips, and beets. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Pour white wine over vegetable mixture and scrape browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Mix cannellini beans and green beans into vegetable mixture; pour in 5 cups water. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until green beans are tender, about 5 minutes more. Stir in parsley and lemon juice.
• Divide soup among heated bowls and serve with a generous dollop of the winter greens pesto.