Hearty minestrone (prodigy)

6 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¼ pounds Dried beans
Salt
1 Celery stalk
¼ pounds Savoy cabbage
2 smalls Boiling potatoes
¼ cup Drained canned plum tomatoes
2½ tablespoon Chopped onion
2 Basil leaves
¼ teaspoon Dried thyme
2 tablespoons Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces Imported Italian pasta

Directions

THE NIGHT BEFORE, pick over the beans, rinse them, and let them soak in a large bowl of cold water. Next day, drain the beans, put them into a large pot and cover with 4 cups water. Add ½ teaspoon salt, bring to the boil and simmer, covered for 1-to-1½ hours, until the beans are nearly tender. Wash and cut into bite-size pieces the celery, cabbage and potato. Roughly chop the tomatoes. Chop the onion, basil, and thyme together. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and soften the onion mixture in it for 5 minutes. Add the celery, cabbage, potato, tomato, ¼ teaspoon salt, and several grindings of black pepper. Toss everything to coat it with the oil, then add ⅓ cup warm water. Cover and cook gently 20 minutes, until the vegetables are almost tender. When the beans are ready, scoop out about a quarter of them and puree them through a food mill back into the pot. Add the vegetables from the saute pan and all their juices.

Bring the soup to a boil and stir in the pasta. Cook until the pasta is done, 10 to 12 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

TOM MARESCA AND DIANE DARROW - PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK

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