fresh summer minestrone

minestrone fresco d'estate

TOTAL TIME: 1 hour, 20 minutes

MAKES: 6 servings

Full of color, flavor, and loaded with nutrients, this light and bright minestrone is sure to become a favorite.

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried borlotti or pinto beans, soaked overnight
1/2 pound new or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 small carrots, cut into ½-inch pieces
Salt
3 medium tomatoes
1 cup fresh corn kernels (cut from about 1 medium ear of corn)
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 ounces spinach leaves, trimmed and sliced into thin strips (2 cups)
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
2 heaping tablespoons mixed minced herbs such as basil, marjoram, thyme and flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Bring 3 cups water to boil.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add beans and boiling water; bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 25 minutes.

Add potato and carrot; continue to cook, covered, until beans are tender, about 40 minutes more.

Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop tomatoes into water and boil 30 seconds; drain, peel, seed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.

When beans are tender, add tomato, corn, peas and spinach; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or room temperature, drizzled with oil and sprinkled with herbs and extra pepper.

August 2008

keywords:

vegetables, vegetarian, summer

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Comments [2] | Add your comment

This looks so tasty!
Posted: June 30, 2009 16:24 by noah
It's a little bland as presented in the recipe. I added a bit of fresh oregano and some basil, with a dash of pepper flakes. Not much, but just enough to wake up the vegetables a bit.
Posted: June 23, 2009 13:32 by ddruker