Al fresco: springtime minestrone

Last week the minestra at an Italian local restaurant was not exactly the same as the one I had ordered there a few months back. On both accounts however it was greatly satisfying both to palate and the eye.

So it dawned on me: minestrone takes advantage of the cook's taste for color, his whim or the season's vegetables. This soup looked prim with its slivers of yellow bell pepper, a green leafy vegetable and soy sprouts. And it also had brown beans, chickpeas and white beans tossed in.

So after cleaning out my fridge first to be methodical about buying my weekend vegetables next, I got hold of some springtime stars -fresh pea pods! bright green-leaf paksoy!- and made my own springtime minestrone. I've posted the drill before.

To summarize my cues from The Harry's Bar Cookbook, here are 3 big steps:

1. Frying an onion for 10-15 minutes until browned.
2. Adding the vegetables and stewing them for 15 minutes with a bay leaf and seasoning.
3. Adding both broth and tomato paste, letting come to a boil, then letting simmer for 15' minutes. If the soup's too thick, add some more boiling water.

I quickly made my own 15' vegetable broth mainly with leek and winter turnip - 15 minutes is my favorite cue in soup making.
Then I was getting all geared up, realizing this could be my first evening meal al fresco.
The sun was abundant while I was chopping away. Here are my spring vegetables and legumes:
-leek
-green celery
-carrot
-1 tomato, peeled
-green peas
-1/4 huge red bell pepper
-pakshoy leaves, chopped
-1 new potato
-brown and white beans and a few chickpeas

Note: it was my first meal al fresco on a day without airplanes and a sunset tinged by volcanic ash.