FoodB

A few weeks back we had a soup recipe that backfired on us. We had been making soups on a weekly basis and that bad soup was enough to stop us from making any soup for the last couple of weeks. But we can't live in fear. When the horse throws you off, you need to get right back on.

So when Jenn was trying to find a good soup recipe to make this week she read me off about 12 different recipe that she had found. Just from the titles alone, they all sounded great. We were able to narrow it down to two finalists and the consensus was a soup I really enjoy at most Italian restaurants that I go to:

Minestrone with Crisp Parmesan Crumbs Recipe

1 pound borlotti beans
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus 1/2 cup divided, plus more for garnish
1/2 pound pancetta, finely chopped
2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 parsnips, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
6 fresh sage leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled tomatoes, drained and hand crushed
6 quarts chicken stock
3 cups fresh white bread crumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Soak the beans: Put the beans in a large pot and cover them with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook the beans for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 1 hour. (Or cover the beans with cold water and let them soak overnight.)
2. Start the soup: In a large soup pot over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil is hot add the pancetta, onion, celery, carrots, and parsnips and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons thyme, 2 tablespoons rosemary, the sage, and bay leaves. Drain the beans and add them to the pot along with the tomatoes and 1/4 cup olive oil. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, adding water if you need more liquid. The soup should be thick: to thicken the soup, break up some of the beans with the back of a spoon. Remove the bay leaves and discard before serving.
3. Toast the bread crumbs: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the bread crumbs, remaining thyme and rosemary, and cheese on a baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over about 1/4 cup olive oil; combine well. Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. To serve, ladle the soup into small glasses, cups or mugs. Drizzle on a little olive oil, top with the crispy crumbs, and serve.

Chefs Notes: We didn't use dried beans for this recipe, instead we just added canned beans. We have been finding that for soups that canned beans are more than ok as a replacement. Also we cut the recipe in half once we realized that it would have been enough soup to feed all the homeless people in Orange County. And lastly, Jenn added some tomato sauce from crushed tomatoes to the broth to add some flavor. I didn't taste it without the tomato sauce but she said it really helped the flavor of the broth.

Really good stuff. The parmesan crumbs are a great addition and I think they can go in just about any soup we make from now on. For the bread, instead of running to Albertsons to pick up what is most likely a few days old baguette, I headed over to Lee's Sandwich and bought 2 baguettes for a dollar. Man they make some good bread there and its cheaper than the regular store. If you have one near you that makes bread I implore you to buy all of you French bread from their instead of the leftover crap they are selling at your grocer.