Minestrone with Garlic Toast
The garlic croutons are a recipe that I use a lot, I like to prepare it to dip them in minestrone soup. They are relatively simple to prepare but here are my tricks to get the most out of simple croutons.
Ingredients for 2 person
2-3 slices of stale bread (any type of sliced bread is fine.1 garlic clove1 knob of butter
Procedure
The preparation is very simple, you have to cut the bread into slices into homogeneous cubes, the size I prefer is 2 cm x 2 cm because it is large it allows you to be taken with a spoon and gives me taste in soups. Smaller croutons could look like crumbs and "dirty the plate" from an aesthetic point of view. Put a pan with a thick bottom on a high flame, when the pan is hot (about 2 minutes) put the bread and a clove of garlic crushed. The most important part of this operation is to check the bread, flipping it from time to time. The croutons must be golden and colored without burning. Sauté the pan as you would with pasta every minute for 2 or 3 times until the croutons have obtained the color and level of cooking you want. If you want to make the croutons less light but tastier, add a knob of butter in the pan when you put the crushed garlic clove. In this way the butter will flavor and in turn release the flavor on the croutons. Be careful not to darken the butter too much, as soon as it starts to fry it's time to put the croutons. Here the operation is a little more complicated, the croutons tend to absorb butter quickly so you have to continue to flip them so they absorb butter on both sides. Once "glazed" let them cook and brown. Advice, if you have leftover bread and do not know what to do with it, cut it into cubes and freeze it... It will be useful for garlic croutons that evening that you will come home and you will not even have crackers around the house.
Your garlic croutons are ready!
Minestrone: the word alone brings to mind the scent of genuine things, happy moments and family warmth. The minestrone recipe is in fact one of the many typical Italian recipes that is handed down from family to family, which at least once in our lives we have all prepared and that precisely because it is a traditional recipe everyone prepares in his own way. There is no perfect time to prepare minestrone but surely winter, with its cold temperatures, is a very good candidate to be the ideal season for this dish; This does not prevent us from preparing it even when it is hot outside and eating it cold, focusing on the quality and the greatest variety of seasonal ingredients.
In all cases, at the base of the minestrone there is always a sauté prepared with celery, onion and carrot to be browned in oil and then added water and all other vegetables. The sauté is one of the elements on which traditions often diverge: it is not uncommon to taste soups with sautéed pork lard to which celery, onion and carrot are added and almost always also bacon cubes, for a stronger flavor and certainly more calories. Before moving on to the recipe, a small consideration is necessary for this recipe: minestrone is a real exercise in fantasy. Once you have acquired the basic recipe, you can play with the ingredients in order to create a personalized and unique dish.
Classic minestrone
Ingredients
150 pasta100 grams green beans100 grams spinach100 grams beans30 gr butter4 tomato2 potato2 carrot1 leek1 zucchini1 onion1 garlic clove1 bunch parsley1 bunch basil4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil3 l vegetable brothsalt to tastePepper to taste
Preparation
Clean, wash and dice potatoes, zucchini and carrots; chopped green beans and strips spinach (or herbs). Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel them, remove the seeds and reduce them to fillets. Chop the peeled onion and garlic with the white leek, parsley and basil washed. Sauté the chopped mixture in a saucepan with 4 tablespoons of oil and 30 g of butter; When they are wilted, add the tomatoes, let them flavor, then add the vegetables, including beans, and after 5 minutes wet with 3 liters of hot broth. Adjust salt, pepper and cook for 2 hours, flat and covered (in the pressure cooker it takes about 30 minutes). Then add the pasta and finish cooking, bring to the table with grated parmesan on the side. If it's hot you can also choose to cool the classic minestrone in the dishes before serving.
TipTo prepare a perfect minestrone just dose all the ingredients properly. Here we propose the classic recipe (100% vegetarian), perfect to adapt to every need and ideal to enrich to your liking. Follow my directions and take advantage of all the vegetables to prepare an easy and genuine dish.
The garlic croutons are a recipe that I use a lot, I like to prepare it to dip them in minestrone soup. They are relatively simple to prepare but here are my tricks to get the most out of simple croutons.
Ingredients for 2 person
2-3 slices of stale bread (any type of sliced bread is fine.
1 garlic clove
1 knob of butter
Procedure
The preparation is very simple, you have to cut the bread into slices into homogeneous cubes, the size I prefer is 2 cm x 2 cm because it is large it allows you to be taken with a spoon and gives me taste in soups. Smaller croutons could look like crumbs and "dirty the plate" from an aesthetic point of view. Put a pan with a thick bottom on a high flame, when the pan is hot (about 2 minutes) put the bread and a clove of garlic crushed. The most important part of this operation is to check the bread, flipping it from time to time. The croutons must be golden and colored without burning. Sauté the pan as you would with pasta every minute for 2 or 3 times until the croutons have obtained the color and level of cooking you want. If you want to make the croutons less light but tastier, add a knob of butter in the pan when you put the crushed garlic clove. In this way the butter will flavor and in turn release the flavor on the croutons. Be careful not to darken the butter too much, as soon as it starts to fry it's time to put the croutons. Here the operation is a little more complicated, the croutons tend to absorb butter quickly so you have to continue to flip them so they absorb butter on both sides. Once "glazed" let them cook and brown. Advice, if you have leftover bread and do not know what to do with it, cut it into cubes and freeze it... It will be useful for garlic croutons that evening that you will come home and you will not even have crackers around the house.
Your garlic croutons are ready!
Minestrone: the word alone brings to mind the scent of genuine things, happy moments and family warmth. The minestrone recipe is in fact one of the many typical Italian recipes that is handed down from family to family, which at least once in our lives we have all prepared and that precisely because it is a traditional recipe everyone prepares in his own way. There is no perfect time to prepare minestrone but surely winter, with its cold temperatures, is a very good candidate to be the ideal season for this dish; This does not prevent us from preparing it even when it is hot outside and eating it cold, focusing on the quality and the greatest variety of seasonal ingredients.
In all cases, at the base of the minestrone there is always a sauté prepared with celery, onion and carrot to be browned in oil and then added water and all other vegetables. The sauté is one of the elements on which traditions often diverge: it is not uncommon to taste soups with sautéed pork lard to which celery, onion and carrot are added and almost always also bacon cubes, for a stronger flavor and certainly more calories. Before moving on to the recipe, a small consideration is necessary for this recipe: minestrone is a real exercise in fantasy. Once you have acquired the basic recipe, you can play with the ingredients in order to create a personalized and unique dish.
Classic minestrone
Ingredients
150 pasta
100 grams green beans
100 grams spinach
100 grams beans
30 gr butter
4 tomato
2 potato
2 carrot
1 leek
1 zucchini
1 onion
1 garlic clove
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch basil
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 l vegetable broth
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Preparation
Clean, wash and dice potatoes, zucchini and carrots; chopped green beans and strips spinach (or herbs). Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel them, remove the seeds and reduce them to fillets. Chop the peeled onion and garlic with the white leek, parsley and basil washed. Sauté the chopped mixture in a saucepan with 4 tablespoons of oil and 30 g of butter; When they are wilted, add the tomatoes, let them flavor, then add the vegetables, including beans, and after 5 minutes wet with 3 liters of hot broth. Adjust salt, pepper and cook for 2 hours, flat and covered (in the pressure cooker it takes about 30 minutes). Then add the pasta and finish cooking, bring to the table with grated parmesan on the side. If it's hot you can also choose to cool the classic minestrone in the dishes before serving.
Tip
To prepare a perfect minestrone just dose all the ingredients properly. Here we propose the classic recipe (100% vegetarian), perfect to adapt to every need and ideal to enrich to your liking. Follow my directions and take advantage of all the vegetables to prepare an easy and genuine dish.
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