Minestrone Soup - From the Kitchen of Katie Valerio

This recipe is from the kitchen of Katie Valerio (Catherine Zucco) she is the the oldest daughter to Uncle Martin Zucco.   So many good memories of Katie and her husband Johnny visiting Yountville on the weekend and all of us gathering to have a meal of polenta.  Johnny always made the polenta stirring a large pot of water and adding the polenta gradually into the boiling water.  My cousin Martha Rust was kind enough to share Katie's recipe with me.

Ingredients:

2 onions chopped

1 minced garlic clove

1 celery chopped

1 small cabbage, chopped

4-5 carrots chopped

2-3 zucchini diced 

2 cans tomato paste

1 can beef broth

1 soup bone or a couple short ribs

Sauté the vegetables in a few Tablespoons of olive oil until soft.  

Add 3 quarts of water and the remaining ingredients:

1 small package frozen peas

handful of string beans or one can

2 potatoes diced

2 turnips or rutabaga

1 or 2 cans of kidney beans, drained

1 cup elbow macaroni added during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Simmer for one hour adding more water as needed if soup is too thick.   

The beauty of a minestrone soup is that any vegetable can be added or omitted depending on your preference.  For instance, I use 1 can tomato sauce and one can diced tomatoes instead of tomato paste. I do not use the cabbage, peas or the turnips.  I do like to add spinach to the soup.

My cousin Martha Rust adds garbanzo beans, Swiss chard and a chopped red pepper. She also omits the tomato paste and adds chopped tomatoes.  In addition to the liquid 1 cup of wine is also used.

Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

                                                         Johnny and Katie Valerio