Photography: Dave Brown
This minestrone soup, which originates in Sardinia in Italy, could help you live to the ripe old age of 100! Bursting with vegies and legumes, it packs a nutritional punch. And the best thing? You can make it your own by using seasonal ingredients. Swap things in and out – if you prefer to use different greens, you can try silverbeet, cavolo nero, zucchini or cauliflower, for example. The only limit is your imagination. While it requires slow simmering for more than hour, it’s well worth the wait and you’ll be returning to this classic recipe over and over again during the winter.
Ingredients
Method
The night before, wash the beans and chickpeas in cold water. Place them in a large bowl and cover them with fresh cold water; they will expand as they soak, so make sure the container is large enough and there is plenty of water. Cover the bowl and leave them to soak for at least 12 hours (or longer – check the packet).
The next day, drain and then rinse the beans and chickpeas thoroughly with fresh water. Set aside.
Place a large casserole dish (Dutch oven) or ceramic pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots and olive oil and cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and cook for a further 2 minutes. Tear the basil leaves and stir them in along with the chopped parsley and cook for another minute. Next, add the tomatoes and potato, give everything a stir and cook for a further 2 minutes, or until the tomatoes are starting to soften. Add the drained beans and chickpeas and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cover with water and bring it to the boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat back to medium, cover and cook for 1–11/2 hours, or until the beans and chickpeas are soft. If needed, top up with water so that the vegetables are always submerged.
Once the beans and chickpeas are cooked, add the cabbage, cover and cook for a final 10 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.
To serve, use a slotted ladle to divide the vegetables, beans and chickpeas equally between serving bowls, then pour over the warm broth. Sprinkle with cheese or pangrattato and drizzle over some olive oil.
No-waste breadcrumbs
Makes 1 x 500g jar300g leftover or stale bread, chopped into small chunks
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
30g bunch of parsley, stalks discarded
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp dried oregano
1 sun-dried tomato
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Put the bread, olive oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper into a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and toast for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.2. Transfer the toasted bread to a food processor and add the parsley, garlic, oregano and sun-dried tomato. Blitz
it all together until a rough breadcrumb has formed, and you don’t see any large pieces of garlic, parsley or sun-dried tomato. Avoid over-blending, as you want the pangrattato (breadcrumb mixture) to have a rough texture. If you are working with a small food processor, do this in batches.3. Transfer the breadcrumb mixture back to the frying pan and continue to cook it over a medium heat, stirring constantly until it is golden and brown all over. This could take 10–15 minutes or more, depending on how
stale your bread is.4. Once the breadcrumbs are golden and lightly crispy, transfer them to a large baking sheet, spread them out evenly and leave them to cool. Once cooled and fully dry, transfer the breadcrumbs to a sterilised and well-dried jar with an airtight seal and keep them in the refrigerator, or you can freeze them for months and just take out as much as you need each time.
This is an edited extract from ‘Eat Like a Sardinian’ by Francesco Mattana, with photography by Dave Brown, published by Murdoch Books, $45.
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