Italian · Free recipe
Garden Minestrone with Ditalini
A soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery builds the base for this chunky vegetable soup packed with zucchini, green beans, cannellini beans, and tiny ditalini pasta. A Parmesan rind simmered in the broth adds savory depth you cannot quite place.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Serves
- 8
- Level
- Easy
Method
-
Warm the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots, and celery with a pinch of salt for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and sweet but not browned.
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Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until the paste darkens to a rusty red.
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Pour in the diced tomatoes and broth, drop in the Parmesan rind, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
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Add the zucchini, green beans, and cannellini beans and simmer for 8 minutes, until the green beans are nearly tender.
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Stir in the ditalini and kale and cook for 9 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then so the pasta does not stick, until the pasta is al dente.
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Fish out the Parmesan rind, season the soup well with salt and pepper, and serve with grated Parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.
Zest note from the test kitchen
Save Parmesan rinds in a bag in the freezer; they soften and release their savory flavor straight from frozen, so they are always ready for the next pot.
