One-Pot Minestrone with Separately Cooked Pasta

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A big, generous pot of vegetable-packed minestrone built the way a good Italian-American kitchen does it: a slow soffritto, a Parmesan rind simmering in the broth, and beans that thicken the soup without any cream. The pasta cooks separately and gets spooned into the bowl at the last second, so tomorrow's leftovers taste like the first day instead of a pot of mush. Makes enough for dinner plus a freezer stash.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for serving
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 2 medium carrots, diced small
• 2 stalks celery, diced small
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch half-moons
• 1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (fresh or frozen)
• 1 medium Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 3 cups chopped curly kale or savoy cabbage, packed

• 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 8 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 15-oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 piece Parmesan rind, about 2 inches (optional but recommended)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper

• 1 1/2 cups small dried pasta such as ditalini, elbows, or small shells
• 1 tbsp kosher salt (for the pasta water)
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil or flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook, stirring every couple of minutes, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the vegetables are soft with no browning. This slow start is where most of the soup's sweetness comes from — don't rush it.
2. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, until the paste darkens to a brick red and smells toasty rather than raw.
3. Add the hand-crushed tomatoes with their juice, the oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes. Raise the heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom, until the mixture thickens slightly.
4. Pour in the vegetable broth and add the potato, green beans, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady low simmer (small bubbles, lid ajar) and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Stir in the zucchini and the cannellini beans. Simmer 8 minutes more, until the potato is fully tender and the zucchini is soft but not falling apart. For a thicker, more traditional body, mash about 1/2 cup of the beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon.
6. Add the kale or cabbage and simmer 5 minutes, until wilted and tender. Fish out and discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind. Stir in the red wine vinegar, then taste and season aggressively with salt and black pepper — a big pot of vegetable soup needs more salt than you think. If you are freezing part of the batch, stop here and cool it (see tips).
7. While the soup finishes, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a separate pot with 1 tablespoon kosher salt. Cook the pasta 1 minute short of the package's al dente time, drain, and toss with a teaspoon of olive oil so it doesn't clump. Keep it in a separate bowl.
8. To serve, put a scoop of pasta in the bottom of each warm bowl and ladle the hot soup over it. Finish with a shower of Parmesan, a handful of basil or parsley, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and a few turns of black pepper.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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