Sardinia Minestrone Soup

 

Sardinia Minestrone Soup

John Buettner prefers to use dried beans for this classic, hearty dish. Soak all three legumes overnight ahead of making the soup. The cooking time will depend on how fresh they are. “The older the bean, the longer it takes for them to cook,” he said.

Makes 8 generous servings

Ingredients

• ⅓ pound dried garbanzos (¾ cup)
• ⅓ pound dried white beans (¾ cup)
• ⅓ cup dried pinto or red beans
• 4 to 6 stalks celery
• 4 to 6 carrots, preferably organic
• 1 medium onion, white or yellow
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 to 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or freshly ground black pepper
• Low-sodium vegetable stock (optional)
• 1 14-ounce can chopped or stewed tomatoes
• 1 ½ cups potatoes, cut into ½-inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• Freshly sliced avocado for serving
• Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

Instructions

1. Drain the presoaked garbanzos and beans in a colander and microwave them in a separate bowl of water for 10 minutes — about the amount of time you need to chop the celery, carrots and onion into approximately ½-inch pieces.

2. Add olive oil to a large pot over low heat and sauté celery, carrots, onion, garlic and pepper flakes until the onion pieces are translucent, about 3 minutes.

3. Rinse and drain the beans in a colander and add to the same pot containing the aromatics, along with 6 to 8 cups water. Use vegetable stock instead of water, if desired. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, oregano and bay leaf and slow cook over low heat until beans are tender, 1 to 1 ½ hours. Remove the bay leaf and season with salt.

4. When ready to serve, top with sliced avocado and/or Parmesan cheese.

Short on time? For quicker soup, Buettner suggests using a pressure cooker for 25 minutes — except for lentils, which only take about 5 minutes. He prefers to bring the pressure cooker to peak pressure — about when it “starts to whistle,” he said, then turn it off and let it cool down naturally.

Let the flavors meld. In addition, “this minestrone tastes best the next day, as all of flavors combine,” Buettner said. “If you want to store it more than 2 days, it’s better to freeze it.”