I will be making minestrone soup today, any tips or tricks to take it to another level? Was thinking lf adding turkey or something
Use spagetti Os as a base
>>21672765I like your style kid
Wtf i just got back from the store and it was 24 dollars for everything, I thought making food at home was supposed to be cheaper
>>21672880how many cans of spagetti o's did you get?
>>21672880if you dont have some of the ingredients already a dish like that can get expensive quickly. If you want to save money making soup use it to stretch leftovers and cut out one or two expensive ingredients.
I love making minestrone. It's pretty simple, but my fav things to add are onions, carrots, beans/lentils. I don't think it would be that good to add any sort of meat.I like this pasta in particular because they're like little bowls that get filled with the soup mmm
>>21672978this one looks good, exactly like the one my dad used to make. do you have a recipe?
>>2167288024 aint bad if you get a bunch of soup out of it.carrots 3 bucks for a bagcelery 4 bucks for a bunch can skip or swap with fennelonions 3 bucks a bagbox of pasta 2 bucks2 cans tomato sauce 5 buckstomato's on the vine or whatever is cheap 4 bucks2 cans mixed beans 3 bucksItalian spice mix 4 bucks
>>21673009I should have bought the veggies in bulk FUCK and I wasted money on dumb shit like jarred garlic
>>216729982 chopped carrots1 big chopped onionPut into pot and let them cook with a little bit of oil together with parsley and basilAdd 1 liter of water400 grams finely crushed tomatoes2 table spoons tomato purée2 Bouillon cubesabout 250 grams of beans (i like a mix of borlotti, kidney and cannellini beans) or 250 grams of lentils (you could put both beans and lentils too)SaltI think that's everything, it's enough for 4-5 meals
>>21672757Add the rind of some parmesean while it cooks. Remove before storing or serving.
>>21672757Remember the base of a good minestrone is always the bean broth, that is some of the water that the beans were cooked in, or the water from the can.This will make the broth smooth and a little bit creamy, and not just watery.And don't make it too tomatoey. You want to taste the beans and the vegetables, and too much tomato can dominate the flavor profile. Just use a some tomato puree, or if you're using canned or fresh, just a cup is enough for like half a gallon of soup, imhoBut also the great thing about home made minestrone is you can make it how you like it, and every house will make it differently.
>>21673096Looks good man. You got a lot of stuff like noodles crowding the soup, so next time you could use less stuff or add more liquid.
>>21673092You’ll learn and you’ll save a shitload in the long run. Once you have a bigger budget you can add more flavors and play around. A good dish might even get you laid.
>>21673096What’s the verdict?
>>21673184Another thing, use a good variety of vegetables, obviously onion, carrot, and celery for the base, but throw in things like zucchini, green beans, peas, kale, broccoli (the stems are great for this), potato, squash, bell peppers, fresh herbs like basil and parsley, whatever you have really, it's a good way of using up bits and pieces you might have in the pantry.The more variety the better.
>>21672757>tricksWell, if you grate your own parm, you're supposed to tuck the rind of parm in your soup to flavor the batch from that aged rind flavor.For me, a final splash of flavorful vinegar or half squeeze of lemon is the magic.There are "winter" and "summer" recipes for minestrone, and unlike other named Italian dishes, it's more forgiving exactly what veggies make it into the pot, root veggies vs summer squash, swiss chard vs kale. Cannellini beans or kidney. Even the pasta shape is forgiveable.
>>21673276>veggiesYou have to be at least 18 years old to post here.
>>21672757I add italian sausage
>>21673208Scrumptious my nigga>>21673185Yeah I know, I always fuck up with the amount of pasta lol
>>21672880Welcome to the real world, kid
after you're done sauté'ing your aromatic vegetable, add and reduce some white wine.
>>21672757>take it to another level?Grow a brain.
>>21675086Bean Power = Brain Power
>>21672757Stew the tomatoes yourself with fresh herbs and garlic It improves every soup that calls for canned tomatoes
>>21675510>minestroneThis, or use home canned. Store bought ones taste kinda fucked up.
>>21672757Chilli, olives, anchovies, fennel buld, ham hocks (ribollita)
>>21672757Creamy white beans like lima (the big flat white ones, called butter beans) and cannellini (small normal sized) are divine. Kidney beans are good too but red
>>21672880you don't go to the store for soup ingredients dickhead. maybe you pick up a ham hock when you do you regular shopping. soup is cheap because you use the left over shit you have laying around
>>21672880it's less cost per meal, not less cost up front. $24 worth of soup ingredients should get you like 6-8 meals at least. so $3-4 per meal. you're not going to get that going out to eat anywhere.
>>21673106I usually parm max by mixing in 1-2 Tbsp Cornstarch slurry into the soup at the end then a Tbs of butter with 1-2 cup grated Parmesan incorporated off the heat. The slurry helps it blend easier without clumping and I like the less watery texture.
Heavy vegetable soups always make me sad I couldn't afford meat that week
>>21672757I do mine with thick slices of chorizo
I made minestrone once and it was good when I ate it but the leftovers I saved turned out extremely mushy and unappealing. Maybe I overcooked the pasta, maybe not. But I'll just say leftover minestrone is not good in my experience.
>>21672757Funny I just made one yesterday. The thing with all soups is to have a good stock as base, preferably a white stock (although the one I made yesterday was with a brown duck stock). I also like to add a bit of cinnamon to my minestrone. Also don't over do it with the amount of pasta.
>>21672757>Minas Trone
>>21676115It’s probably best, if making a load to save for another time, to portion it before adding the pasta and then add the pasta when you use the saved soup. Pic related is my (>>21676195) soup from yesterday before being warmed through for todays lunch and I saved it cold with the pasta already in and cooked and it was fine.
>>21676244You may be right there. I cooked the pasta and veg in the same pot. If i had cooked separately and then combined it may have turned out better for leftovres.
>>21675856Borlotti are the correct bean to use for minestrone.
Minestrone is awful, tasteless slop. It is the very lowest point of Italian cuisine, together with pasta e fagioli. Maybe some shrimp would help it not be such a waste of a meal.
>>21672757Make it 90% chickpeas. That's the best part.
>>21676219Authority is not given to you to deny the return for a second helping, stew art.
>>21672757The only real "hack" for making any homemade soup is to use homemade stock. The more well known hack is to use boxed stock, but add powdered gelatin to it, but even that is still only half as good as true from scratch stock. Even the super expensive premade stocks in the cold or frozen section can't come close.
