Genovese Minestrone is a dish that enriches my collection LIGURIA IN TAVOLA, a very thick vegetable soup with a really long history, just like other recipes such as Ligurian Corzetti or Genovese Tocco.
Liguria is a land of sea and “sailors”, but also of farmers who spent all their time working the land, and therefore very rich in vegetables of all kinds. The Genovese Minestrone is nothing more than a soup of various vegetables, cut very coarsely and then cooked, at the time on the wood stove, now on the hob, for a good hour.
The peculiarity of the Genovese Minestrone, as in Testaieu al pesto is obviously the presence of Genovese Pesto, added at the end, in the dish, which gives the dish its unmistakable taste and aroma.
A dish much loved by the good Gilberto Govi, who, as he asked his wife “Gigia”: “Prepare the minestrone with pesto, or rather… the pesto with minestrone!” Precisely to emphasize the fact that it should be abundant with pesto inside the Genovese Minestrone.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs potatoes
- 1.25 cups zucchini
- 1.5 cups green beans
- 1.5 cups cannellini beans
- 1.25 cups Swiss chard
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 carrot
- 1 leek
- coarse salt
- 1/3 cup Genovese pesto
Preparation
Wash all the vegetables and remove the ends and damaged parts.
Then cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, the celery into small pieces, and the zucchini into rather large chunks.
Slice the leek into strips, and the onion and green beans into large pieces.
Clean the Swiss chard and roughly chop it with a knife.
Peel potatoes and carrots and cut into large pieces.
For a good Genovese Minestrone, it’s essential that the vegetables are all cut very large and without precision. This will ensure that while cooking, the vegetables absorb the water, and after a long cooking time, they will break down and make the Genovese Minestrone thick and dense.
Place all the chopped vegetables into a large pot, add water until it is just below the vegetables. The water should not cover the vegetables.
Add a little coarse salt and place on the stove with a lid.
Cook for a good half an hour, then add the pre-cooked cannellini beans, stir and cover again with the lid.
Continue cooking for another 20-30 minutes and stir, then mash the vegetables with a spoon and keep stirring.
When the spoon stands “standing alone” in the middle of the vegetables, it means your Genovese Minestrone is ready.
Serve in dishes and add the Genovese pesto. With the pesto, it’s not necessary to add oil or cheese.
If you have Parmesan rinds, you can add them at the beginning of cooking. These will give an even better taste to your minestrone.
Obviously, follow the seasons, in autumn add pumpkin, in spring fresh peas, in summer green beans, zucchini.
STORAGE
Store the Genovese Minestrone in the fridge, in airtight food containers, for up to three days.
If desired, you can vacuum seal it, while still hot, in glass jars with screw caps, then once closed and turned upside down, and stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
You can also freeze it and store it for up to 6 months in the freezer.
