Genoese Minestrone

Since it's been getting cooler, we figured it would be a great time to try making soup.  A quick survey of what ingredients we had versus ingredients called for in various recipes convinced us to try a minestrone recipe.  This turned out great and we had leftovers - enough to enjoy, but not so much that we didn't like the soup anymore.  Pernfect.

From World Kitchen - Italy

Notes:

• This does take some time to make - there is a lot of prep work involve in cutting up vegetables to go in the soup.  However, some effort was reduced by buying pre-cubed prosciutto (instead of pancetta) from Kroger.  Overall, this was an afternoon project.
• Instead of borlotti beans, we added some red kidney beans that were still around from making red beans and rice a little while back.  We also used some Italian cut green beans instead of runner beans (might actually be the same thing).
• Deletions: cabbage (we didn't want to buy one to just use 1/8-1/4), pesto, and Parmeasan cheese.  The pesto and cheese are meant to be added when served, and so were not viewed as necessary.
• The recipe said to just peel the potatoes and add them in whole, but we used cubed unpeeled redskin potatoes.  This seemed to work out just fine, and it goes along with our tendency to only peel potatoes when necessary (which is rare).
• We used some Barilla mini penne that we had instead of ditalini, but it seemed just fine.  The pasta will get softer and mushier for the leftovers, but it will still be very good!

Cooking the onions, prosciutto, sage, and parsley; already smelling great.

Then you cook the vegetables a bit before adding the chicken broth.

Delicious finished soup, ready to be consumed.

Verdict:  Would definitely make again.  The end result is definitely worth the prep work.

World Kitchen - Italy (2010), p. 24-25