My Grandfather’s Minestrone: A Bowl Full of Stories, Tradition, and Flavor.

A Soup for Every Season, Crafted with Love and Memory

Some dishes have a way of feeling like home, not just for their flavor but for the memories they carry. My grandfather Mario’s minestrone is one of them. Traditionally, this soup is a staple in the colder months, but it can easily be adapted for spring using fresh seasonal vegetables like agretti, asparagus, beets, artichokes, chicory, turnip greens, spring onions, watercress, new potatoes, turnips, shallots, spinach, sugar snap peas, and Jerusalem artichokes.

My grandfather Mario, whom I mentioned in my recipe for spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino, has always had a deep passion for cooking. In my family, he’s the only one who makes this particular minestrone, and it’s truly something special.

At his home in Montecerboli, he has a private little kitchen where he prepares all his favorite dishes. Whenever I visit, I often find him in the middle of cooking whether it’s fried artichokes, roasted vegetables, or fresh fish. We end up spending hours together, talking while he cooks, as he shares yet another incredible story from his adventurous life, filled with travels and fascinating people he met while working all over Italy.

This minestrone can be adapted to your own taste, but I highly recommend trying his version, thick, rich, and bursting with flavor.

Tuscany is home to many traditional soups, and another famous one is ribollita, known for its unique use of bread in the recipe, one of the most well-known soups is minestra di pane, also called zuppa di pane or zuppa di cavolo nero e fagioli. It’s an old peasant dish, deeply rooted in tradition, and has been a winter favorite for generations.

Mario’s Minestrone Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 Cloves of Garlic

• 4 tbsp Olive oil

• Parsley

• Basil

• 2 zucchinis

• 2 potatoes

• 2 carrots

• 1 white onion

• 1/2 cup Chickpeas

• 1/2 cup Beans

• A handful of red lentils

• 5 cherry tomatoes

• 1 Cabbage (preferably savoy cabbage)

• 4-5 Swiss chard leaves

• 2 liters (about 8 cups) vegetable broth (find the recipe for the vegetable broth in the octopus post)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• A pinch of chili flakes (optional).

  

  Instructions:

• Prepare the legumes : Start by soaking the chickpeas and beans overnight (if not using canned) and cook them in a pot of water until tender. This process usually takes about an hour to an hour and a half.

• Prepare the Vegetables: In a large pot, heat a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped garlic, parsley, and basil, sautéing them until they become fragrant. This will create the base of your soup.

• Sauté the Vegetables: Once the garlic and herbs have cooked down, add the chopped onions, zucchinis, potatoes, and carrots. Stir everything together and let it cook for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften.Pour in the 2 liters (8 cups) of vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.(RECIPE ON THE POST: From Tuscany to Galicia : A Coastal Tradition in Seafood Cuisin.)

• Add the Beans and Broth: Add your cooked chickpeas, beans, and red lentils to the pot. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer gently for about 1 hours. Stir occasionally, and add more water or broth if the soup thickens too much.

• Add the Fresh Vegetables: Once the base of the soup is nearly ready, add in the chopped cherry tomatoes, cabbage, and Swiss chard. Let everything simmer for another 30 minutes until the cabbage and chard are tender.

• Season: Season the soup with salt, pepper, and chili flakes (if desired). Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

• Final Touches: Let the soup rest for a few minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld together. If you like, you can serve the soup over slices of stale bread for added texture and flavor.

Serving: Serve the soup hot or warm, and enjoy this comforting and flavorful dish that’s perfect for any season!

LUGO GALICIA

Right now, I’m in Lugo, Galicia, and one of the traditional dishes here that reminds me of the Tuscan kitchen is caldo gallego ,or as we might say in Italy, "Galician soup." This rustic bean and vegetable soup is typically enriched with a ham bone, a piece of lard, or even a chunk of ham, which gives the dish a comforting richness and extra calories. It’s one of the most popular dishes among pilgrims who travel to Galicia, and my friend Nicola, who has walked the Camino de Santiago five times (me? I’d only manage to go to Lourdes on a stretcher), has confirmed that it’s one of the staples along the route to Compostela.

The Galician soup has a similarity to acquacotta, a typical dish from both Alto Lazio and Tuscany, and it shares the essence of food meant to sustain tired pilgrims. You’ll find many similar dishes along pilgrimage routes, as they were designed to nourish those who walked for days, often with simple and easily accessible ingredients. Acquacotta, for example, is made with water, some herbs, stale bread, and sometimes an egg or a bit of cod or lard, all reminiscent of caldo gallego. Pilgrims could fill their stomachs with it after long stretches of walking, much like the final leg of the Camino de Santiago.

There’s a saying in Galicia: "Brodo senza pane, dallo al cane" (Broth without bread, give it to the dog), because typically, the caldo—meaning soup or broth, is served with the vegetables, beans, and other ingredients placed on top of slices of stale bread. What really makes this dish unique are the tender, slightly bitter grelos (turnip greens), which are a staple in the Galician countryside and truly bring the soup to life.

Thank you for taking the time to read my writing. It means a lot to me, and I truly appreciate your time.