Momma Juliet’s Recipes

Mamma Juliet’s Autumn Minestrone

Cranberry beans fresh from the garden (and other veggies!)

Delicious, warm, healthy Italian soup that freezes well + you can add ingredients, remove ingredients, lean into what you have in the fridge or in the garden. I eyeball the amounts based on what The Husband and I like and have at the moment.

In a soup pot heat a blub of olive oil, add chopped:

Carrots
Celery
Onion
Green beans
Tomatoes
Garlic (fine chop, I use 2 tablespoons at least)

Salt the veggies and stir. When onion is translucent, stir in parsley/basil/oregano (lots if fresh,) red pepper flakes (to taste.)

Add ham broth + chicken broth (mine was homemade, but you can use canned chicken or beef or veggie broths) and Parmesan rind. Simmer 30 min.

Shelled cranberry beans

Add:

Chopped cabbage + cranberry beans (darned hard to find! I grew mine.) Canned drained beans work great, cannellini or white or kidney or red beans or combination. 

Simmer 20 min.

Add chopped zucchini. Simmer 10 min. 

Next pasta goes into the pot and simmers until tender. In this case, The Husband and I had leftover spinach/cheese ravioli from our anniversary dinner, so I added it to the bowls and ladled the soup on top. Nice option to use leftovers! Add more fresh parsley and basil. Grate Parmesan on top.

Great addition: Lightly fry prosciutto until barely crisp and sprinkle on top. 

Serve with crusty bread, extra virgin olive oil and a lovely Italian red wine.

Disclaimer: My version is not genuine Renaissance Italian: tomatoes, green beans, cranberry beans and zucchini are New World plants and not available in Europe before 1492.