[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":416},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:minestrone":3,"recipe:country:italy":204},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":39,"serveWith":49,"storage":51,"faq":52,"equipment":68,"baseServings":72,"prepMinutes":73,"cookMinutes":74,"difficulty":75,"course":76,"diet":79,"mainIngredients":81,"ingredients":88,"instructions":149,"nutrition":178,"images":186,"keywords":196,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"minestrone","Minestrone (Italian Thick Vegetable and Bean Soup)","Minestrone","mee-neh-STROH-neh","italy","Northern and central Italy","🥣","A slow-built vegetable soup with beans, seasonal veg and small pasta, thickened by mashing part of the beans rather than flour — dense enough that the spoon stands up in the bowl.","Minestrone is the vegetable soup Italians cook when the fridge needs emptying, and its rules are about method rather than a fixed shopping list. Everything starts on a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery cooked slowly in olive oil until sweet, then vegetables go in roughly in order of how long they take, beans and their starchy cooking liquid give body, and a handful of small pasta or rice finishes it. The result is thick, savoury and gently sweet from the long-cooked vegetables, with a Parmigiano rind simmered in the pot doing quiet work in the background. It should be a soup you eat with a fork as much as a spoon.","Minestrone predates most of what people think of as Italian cooking. Its ancestor is the plain vegetable-and-grain pottage that fed rural Italy long before tomatoes crossed the Atlantic or pasta became an everyday food, and the name is simply an augmentative of minestra, soup — a big soup. That history explains its structure: it is peasant food designed around whatever grew nearby and whatever was preserved, with dried beans providing the protein that meat did not.\n\nThere is no canonical recipe, and Italians will tell you so quickly. Ligurian minestrone gets a spoonful of pesto stirred in at the table. In Tuscany, day-old bread is layered with the soup and cooked again into ribollita, literally reboiled. Milanese versions lean on rice rather than pasta and often include pancetta or a ham bone. Southern versions swing towards tomato and more assertive greens. What holds across all of them is the seasonal logic: courgette, green beans and fresh borlotti in summer; cabbage, kale, squash and dried beans in winter. A minestrone made from a frozen mixed-vegetable bag in February is a soup, but it is not really this soup.\n\nThe Parmigiano rind deserves its own note, because it is the single most Italian detail in the pot and the one most often skipped abroad. Italian home cooks save the hard rind from finished wedges and drop one into any long-simmered soup, where it softens and releases glutamates that give the broth a savoury depth no stock cube provides. Fish it out before serving, or, in many households, cut it up and give it to whoever spots it first.",[15,16,17,18],"Vegetables are added in stages instead of all at once, so nothing is mush by the time the slowest ingredient is tender.","Part of the beans is mashed into the pot, which thickens the soup naturally rather than with flour or a blender.","Uses the Parmigiano rind trick that Italian home kitchens rely on for depth in a meatless pot.","Written to flex with the season, with clear guidance on what to swap in winter and in summer.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Give the soffritto its full ten minutes over low heat. Onion, carrot and celery rushed over high heat taste raw and sharp for the rest of the cooking.","Cook the pasta separately if you plan to keep leftovers — pasta left in the pot swells overnight and drinks the broth.","Save the starchy bean cooking water instead of stock; it is the best thickener in the recipe and costs nothing.","Cut the vegetables to a similar small dice, around 1 cm, so a spoonful contains a bit of everything rather than one large chunk.","Finish every bowl with raw olive oil poured on at the table. Cooked oil and raw oil taste completely different, and the raw drizzle is not optional in Italy.","If the soup tastes flat, it usually needs salt and acidity rather than herbs — a squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar wakes it up.",[27,31,35],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Dried borlotti or cannellini beans","2 x 400 g tins of the same beans, drained and rinsed","Add tinned beans in the last 15 minutes only, and use vegetable broth in place of the bean cooking water. The soup will be slightly less silky but the difference is small.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Small pasta","Arborio rice, pearl barley, or nothing at all","Rice is the Milanese habit and thickens the soup more; barley needs about 35 minutes and should go in with the harder vegetables. Leave out both for a gluten-free bowl.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Parmigiano rind","A teaspoon of white miso, or simply a more generous hand with salt and olive oil","The rind is there for savoury depth. Miso gets you to a similar place and keeps the soup vegan, though it is obviously not traditional.",[40,43,46],{"name":41,"description":42},"Minestrone alla genovese","Ligurian version finished with a heaped spoonful of basil pesto stirred into each bowl off the heat, which turns the whole soup green and intensely aromatic.",{"name":44,"description":45},"Ribollita","The Tuscan afterlife of minestrone: layer thick leftover soup with slices of stale unsalted bread, let it sit, then reheat until it is dense enough to eat with a fork.",{"name":47,"description":48},"Winter minestrone","Swap the courgette and green beans for cubed squash, savoy cabbage and cavolo nero, and lengthen the simmer by fifteen minutes so the cabbage goes properly soft.",[50],"Crusty bread, a bottle of good olive oil on the table, and a block of Parmigiano with a grater next to it.","Minestrone keeps 4 days refrigerated and is better on day two, once the vegetables have traded flavours. Store it without the pasta if you can, and cook a fresh handful when reheating. It thickens considerably in the fridge; loosen with hot water or broth rather than trying to thin it cold. It freezes for 3 months, though potato turns slightly grainy on thawing and courgette goes soft, so a bean-and-cabbage winter version freezes better than a summer one.",[53,56,59,62,65],{"question":54,"answer":55},"What vegetables belong in a real minestrone?","There is no fixed list, which is the point. The constants are a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery, some kind of bean, and whatever vegetables are in season locally. In summer that means courgette, green beans, tomato and chard; in winter, cabbage, kale, squash and potato. Italians would consider a rigid recipe stranger than an improvised one, so use what you have and add it in order of cooking time.",{"question":57,"answer":58},"Should I put the pasta in the soup or cook it separately?","If you are serving the whole pot immediately, cook it straight in the soup — the starch it releases helps thicken the broth. If you expect leftovers, cook it separately and add it to each bowl, because pasta sitting in soup keeps absorbing liquid and by the next day you will have a stodgy vegetable casserole rather than a soup.",{"question":60,"answer":61},"Can minestrone be made vegan?","Easily. Leave out the Parmigiano rind and the grated cheese at the table, and replace the savoury depth with a teaspoon of white miso, a splash of soy sauce, or dried mushrooms soaked and added with their soaking liquid. Everything else in the soup is already plant-based, and the olive oil finish matters more to the flavour than the cheese does.",{"question":63,"answer":64},"Why is my minestrone thin and watery?","Usually too much liquid and not enough starch. Mash a ladleful of the cooked beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in, which thickens the broth without a blender. Simmering uncovered for the last fifteen minutes also concentrates it. Using the bean cooking water instead of plain stock makes a noticeable difference from the start.",{"question":66,"answer":67},"Do I have to soak dried beans overnight?","Soaking shortens the cooking time and gives more evenly cooked beans, but it is not strictly necessary. Unsoaked beans simply need longer — around 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours of gentle simmering. Salt them only once they are tender, since salting early can leave the skins tough, and never add acidic ingredients like tomato until the beans have softened.",[69,70,71],"Large heavy pot or Dutch oven","Ladle","Sharp knife for the dice",6,25,60,"easy",[77,78],"soup","main",[80],"vegetarian",[82,83,84,85,86,87],"carrot","onion","potato","zucchini","tomato","pasta",[89,95,100,106,108,111,113,117,119,122,124,127,131,135,138,143,145],{"qty":90,"unit":91,"name":92,"note":93,"group":94},250,"g","dried borlotti or cannellini beans, soaked overnight","or 2 tins, drained — see substitutions","For the beans",{"ref":96,"qty":97,"unit":98,"name":99,"group":94},"bay-leaf",1,"piece","bay leaf",{"ref":101,"qty":102,"unit":103,"name":104,"group":105},"olive-oil",4,"tbsp","olive oil, plus more for serving","For the soup",{"ref":83,"qty":97,"unit":98,"name":107,"group":105},"onion, finely diced",{"ref":82,"qty":109,"unit":98,"name":110,"group":105},2,"carrots, in 1 cm dice",{"qty":109,"unit":98,"name":112,"group":105},"celery stalks, in 1 cm dice",{"ref":114,"qty":109,"unit":115,"name":116,"group":105},"garlic","clove","garlic, finely chopped",{"ref":84,"qty":109,"unit":98,"name":118,"group":105},"potatoes, in 1 cm dice",{"ref":86,"qty":120,"unit":91,"name":121,"group":105},400,"canned peeled tomatoes, crushed",{"ref":85,"qty":109,"unit":98,"name":123,"group":105},"courgettes, in 1 cm dice",{"qty":125,"unit":91,"name":126,"group":105},150,"green beans, in short lengths",{"ref":128,"qty":129,"unit":91,"name":130,"group":105},"cabbage",200,"savoy cabbage or cavolo nero, shredded",{"ref":132,"qty":97,"unit":98,"name":133,"optional":134,"group":105},"parmesan","Parmigiano rind, about 6 cm",true,{"ref":87,"qty":136,"unit":91,"name":137,"group":105},120,"small pasta such as ditalini or broken spaghetti",{"ref":139,"qty":140,"unit":91,"name":141,"group":142},"basil",10,"fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley, chopped","To finish",{"ref":132,"qty":74,"unit":91,"name":144,"group":142},"Parmigiano Reggiano, grated, for the table",{"qty":146,"unit":147,"name":148,"group":142},null,"to taste","salt and black pepper",[150,155,159,162,166,170,174],{"title":151,"text":152,"timerSeconds":153,"tip":154},"Cook the beans","Drain the soaked beans, cover with fresh cold water by 5 cm, add the bay leaf and simmer for 45–60 minutes until they are creamy inside and the skins slip easily. Salt them only at the end and keep every drop of the cooking liquid.",3000,"That cloudy bean water is the thickening agent for the whole soup — never pour it away.",{"title":156,"text":157,"timerSeconds":158},"Build the soffritto","Warm the olive oil in a large pot over low heat and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 10–12 minutes, stirring, until the onion is translucent and the mixture smells sweet with no raw edge. Add the garlic for the last minute, just until fragrant.",720,{"title":160,"text":161},"Add the slow vegetables","Stir in the potato and the crushed tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes so the tomato loses its tinny sharpness and darkens slightly. Pour in the beans with about 1.2 litres of their cooking liquid, topping up with water if short, and drop in the Parmigiano rind.",{"title":163,"text":164,"timerSeconds":165},"Simmer and thicken","Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20 minutes. Crush a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon and stir them back in — the broth should turn visibly cloudier and thicker.",1200,{"title":167,"text":168,"timerSeconds":169},"Add the quick vegetables","Add the courgette, green beans and cabbage and simmer for 12–15 minutes more, until the cabbage is silky and the courgette is tender but has not dissolved. Taste and season properly with salt and pepper now.",900,{"title":171,"text":172,"tip":173},"Cook the pasta","Stir in the pasta and cook for the time on the packet, stirring occasionally so it does not stick to the base. The soup should be thick enough that a spoon pushed upright into it stays put for a second before leaning.","Cooking the pasta separately is smarter if you want leftovers — see the FAQ.",{"title":175,"text":176,"timerSeconds":177},"Rest and serve","Fish out the cheese rind and the bay leaf, stir in the basil, and let the pot sit off the heat for 5 minutes. Ladle into bowls, pour a thread of raw olive oil over each, and pass the grated Parmigiano at the table.",300,{"calories":179,"protein":180,"carbs":181,"fat":182,"fiber":183,"sugar":184,"sodium":185,"estimated":134},380,16,52,12,13,8,640,[187,190,192,194],{"src":188,"alt":189},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fminestrone\u002Fhero.jpg","Bowl of thick minestrone packed with diced vegetables, beans and small pasta, drizzled with olive oil",{"src":191,"alt":189},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fminestrone\u002Fhero-16x9.jpg",{"src":193,"alt":189},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fminestrone\u002Fhero-4x3.jpg",{"src":195,"alt":189},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fminestrone\u002Fhero-1x1.jpg",[4,197,198,199,200,201],"italian vegetable soup","bean soup","soffritto","ribollita","seasonal 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rice","ragu","sicily",{"slug":235,"title":236,"nativeName":237,"countrySlug":8,"region":238,"baseServings":184,"prepMinutes":239,"cookMinutes":140,"restMinutes":212,"difficulty":213,"course":240,"diet":242,"mainIngredients":243,"images":246,"keywords":250,"publishedAt":257,"updatedAt":257,"authorSlug":203},"tiramisu","Classic Tiramisu","Tiramisù","Veneto \u002F Friuli Venezia Giulia",40,[241],"dessert",[80],[244,245],"eggs","heavy-cream",[247],{"src":248,"alt":249},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ftiramisu\u002Fhero.jpg","A slice of layered tiramisu with espresso-soaked savoiardi, mascarpone cream and cocoa dusting",[235,251,252,253,254,255,256],"italian dessert","mascarpone","espresso","no-bake","savoiardi","veneto","2026-08-18",{"slug":259,"title":260,"nativeName":261,"countrySlug":8,"region":262,"baseServings":184,"prepMinutes":73,"cookMinutes":263,"restMinutes":264,"difficulty":75,"course":265,"diet":267,"mainIngredients":270,"images":273,"keywords":277,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"focaccia","Focaccia Genovese (Dimpled Olive Oil Flatbread)","Fugassa","Liguria",20,180,[266],"bread",[80,268,269],"vegan","dairy-free",[271,101,272],"flour","yeast",[274],{"src":275,"alt":276},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Ffocaccia\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden Genoese focaccia in a tray, its deep fingertip dimples glossy with olive oil and coarse salt",[259,278,279,280,281,282,283],"focaccia genovese","italian bread","olive oil","liguria","flatbread","no knead",{"slug":285,"title":286,"nativeName":287,"countrySlug":8,"region":288,"baseServings":102,"prepMinutes":289,"cookMinutes":290,"restMinutes":140,"difficulty":75,"course":291,"diet":293,"mainIngredients":295,"images":296,"keywords":300,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"insalata-caprese","Insalata Caprese (Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Salad)","Insalata caprese","Campania",15,0,[217,292],"side",[80,294],"gluten-free",[86,222,139,101],[297],{"src":298,"alt":299},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Finsalata-caprese\u002Fhero.jpg","Plate of sliced ripe tomatoes with torn buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and olive oil",[301,302,303,304,139,305],"caprese","tomato mozzarella salad","capri","buffalo mozzarella","summer salad",{"slug":307,"title":308,"nativeName":309,"countrySlug":8,"region":310,"baseServings":311,"prepMinutes":239,"cookMinutes":289,"restMinutes":312,"difficulty":213,"course":313,"diet":314,"mainIngredients":316,"images":317,"keywords":321,"publishedAt":257,"updatedAt":257,"authorSlug":203},"margherita-pizza","Margherita Pizza (Neapolitan Style in a Home Oven)","Pizza margherita","Naples, Campania",3,480,[78,215],[80,315],"nut-free",[271,86,139],[318],{"src":319,"alt":320},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fmargherita-pizza\u002Fhero.jpg","Margherita pizza with blistered crust, melted mozzarella, tomato sauce and fresh basil leaves",[322,323,324,325,326,222,327],"pizza","margherita","naples","neapolitan","pizza dough","home oven",{"slug":329,"title":330,"nativeName":331,"countrySlug":8,"region":288,"baseServings":72,"prepMinutes":239,"cookMinutes":74,"restMinutes":263,"difficulty":213,"course":332,"diet":333,"mainIngredients":334,"images":336,"keywords":340,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"melanzane-alla-parmigiana","Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Baked Aubergine with Tomato and Mozzarella)","Melanzane alla parmigiana",[78],[80,294],[335,86,222,132,139],"eggplant",[337],{"src":338,"alt":339},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fmelanzane-alla-parmigiana\u002Fhero.jpg","Baked aubergine parmigiana in a dish, browned cheese on top and visible layers of aubergine and tomato in a cut portion",[341,342,343,344,345,346],"parmigiana","melanzane","aubergine bake","eggplant parmesan","campania","vegetarian italian",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":72,"prepMinutes":73,"cookMinutes":74,"difficulty":75,"course":348,"diet":349,"mainIngredients":350,"images":351,"keywords":353,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},[77,78],[80],[82,83,84,85,86,87],[352],{"src":188,"alt":189},[4,197,198,199,200,201],{"slug":355,"title":356,"nativeName":357,"countrySlug":8,"region":358,"baseServings":102,"prepMinutes":73,"cookMinutes":359,"restMinutes":140,"difficulty":213,"course":360,"diet":361,"mainIngredients":362,"images":365,"keywords":369,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"ossobuco-alla-milanese","Ossobuco alla Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks with Gremolata)","Ossobuco alla milanese","Lombardy",135,[78],[],[363,82,83,86,364],"veal","lemon",[366],{"src":367,"alt":368},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fossobuco-alla-milanese\u002Fhero.jpg","Braised veal shank with soft marrow in the bone, coated in dark sauce and topped with green gremolata",[370,371,372,373,374,375,376],"ossobuco","veal shank","gremolata","milan","braised veal","lombardy","slow braise",{"slug":378,"title":379,"nativeName":380,"countrySlug":8,"region":358,"baseServings":102,"prepMinutes":289,"cookMinutes":381,"restMinutes":109,"difficulty":213,"course":382,"diet":383,"mainIngredients":384,"images":386,"keywords":390,"publishedAt":202,"updatedAt":202,"authorSlug":203},"risotto-alla-milanese","Risotto alla Milanese (Saffron Risotto from Milan)","Risotto alla milanese",30,[78],[294],[220,132,385,83],"butter",[387],{"src":388,"alt":389},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Frisotto-alla-milanese\u002Fhero.jpg","Golden saffron risotto spread in a wave across a shallow white plate with grated Parmigiano on top",[391,392,373,393,375,394],"risotto alla milanese","saffron risotto","carnaroli","italian rice",{"slug":396,"title":397,"nativeName":398,"countrySlug":8,"region":399,"baseServings":102,"prepMinutes":140,"cookMinutes":289,"difficulty":213,"course":400,"diet":401,"mainIngredients":402,"images":403,"keywords":407,"publishedAt":257,"updatedAt":257,"authorSlug":203},"spaghetti-carbonara","Spaghetti Carbonara (Roman Guanciale and Egg Pasta)","Spaghetti alla carbonara","Rome, Lazio",[78],[315],[87,244,132],[404],{"src":405,"alt":406},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fspaghetti-carbonara\u002Fhero.jpg","Spaghetti carbonara with glossy egg and pecorino sauce, crisp guanciale and black pepper",[408,87,409,410,411,412,413],"carbonara","rome","guanciale","pecorino","no cream","roman pasta",24,false,1787360070235]