Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 pound (500 g) ripe tomatoes
- 7/8 pound (400 g) garden peas
- 1/2 pound (200 g) cranberry beans
- Fresh pork rinds (as many as you like)
- Parsley
- Basil
- Sage
- 2 potatoes
- 2 zucchini
- A stick of celery
- A carrot
- An onion
- Freshly grated Grana Padano (or Parmigiano)
- Garlic
- Salt and pepper
- Pasta or rice, whichever you prefer
Preparation:
Dice the celery, carrot, and zucchine, slice the tomatoes, discarding the seeds, peel the potatoes, and mince the parsley and the garlic with the onion. If you're using the pork rind scrape it and cut it into thin strips. Put the vegetables except for the peas in a pot and add 2 quarts of water; salt the soup lightly and simmer it over a gentle flame for about 2 1/2 hours.When the time is up stir in the peas, and short pasta (e.g. thimbles) or rice as you prefer, figuring about 5 palmfulls of either pasta or rice. Check seasoning and cook, stirring gently lest the pasta or rice stick to the bottom of the pot, and when everything is cooked, ladle the soup into bowls and serve it with grated cheese on the side.
Yield: 6 servings Milanese minestrone.
