Dreaming of catching summer: minestrone

Two experiences set off wanting to eat this soup: a friend's vegetable soup which used as a base her mother's fantastic home-made sterilized summer tomatoes, to which she added a bit of leek and onion, and a visit to a local Italian restaurant where I tried the minestrone.

I also used dry gigantes elephantes, as they are called in Greece, aka the great white, the jumbo white bean, soaked overnight and cooked with fresh sage, ready for further use. I glanced over at the Harry's Bar cookbook for their Minestrone recipe with my own additions (beans, pancetta) or slight changes.

Dreaming of catching summer: minestrone

My additions:
200 g Gigantes or jumbo white beans, cooked
1 slice of pancetta, chopped in pieces
1 clove of garlic

Harry's Bar Cookbook ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 g butter
1 onion, sliced
1 celery rib, diced
2 leeks, thinly sliced
1 large tomato
2 small zucchini
A small wedge of Savoy cabbage
1 medium potato
1 medium carrot
6 asparagus spears (omitted here)
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper
2 liter boiling water or chicken stock
80 ml tomato sauce (I used tomato concentrate)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Sauté the onion in olive oil, add half of the butter, wait until the onion is well browned after 10-15 minutes. This browning is indeed key to taste.

Add the pancetta, garlic, beans and remaining vegetables, bay leaf, salt and pepper, and stew until the vegetables are tender. In all about 15-25 minutes.

Add the stock, and the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and let simmer for about 15 more minutes.

Stir in the remaining butter and adjust the seasoning.

Serve to plenty of folk, and imagine catching next summer in a jar.