Minest, Classic Brooklyn-Italian Soup

Photograph of fresh Greens via Wikipedia under GNU Free Documentation License

“this clutter of soup pots and books—”, Tree by Jane Hirshfield, Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poems

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Minest: It’s unlikely that you will find this recipe in a cookbook or even on-line.  It’s classic Brooklyn-Italian, great winter comfort food, a soup lush with mixed greens and rich with flavor.  If your kids generally don’t like to eat greens, there’s a good chance they will eat them this way. For those of you living in colder climates, this will provide a warm and bracing dinner after a day of clearing pathways through snow and scrapping ice from car windshields. I won’t be mean and tell you what the temperature is today in Menlo Park, California.

Serve the minest with warm slices of a home-or-artisan-made Italian loaf or French baggett or, if you have Celiac Disease, a quality gluten-free bread that you have made or purchased at Whole Foods.

A salad of fresh herbs, grape tomatoes, and cubes of buffalo mozzarella from an Italian Deli, Italian Pork Store, or Whole Foods would make a fine accompaniment. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where there are Pork Stores, sometimes they have fresh, slightly salty – still warm from preparation - buffalo mozzarella on Saturday mornings.  Dress the salad with a savoryvinaigrette. You can substitute extra-firm tofu for mozzarella if you are vegan. Just cube and marinate the tofu for about an hour in some vinaigrette first. 

Follow the soup and salad with a light dessert such as fresh orange sections drizzled with Amaretto and topped with a sprinkle of chopped almonds or shredded coconut. Wind it all up with a cup of smokey, black China tea like Russian Caravan Tea from Peet’s.  

Traditionally minest was made by first boiling a prosciutto bone in water for a broth and then adding the other ingredients after several hours.  I always used to make the broth and then refrigerate it so that I could skim the fat and proceed after that. I have not included it here for a few reasons: 1.) Given the times, it just won’t be budget-wise for many folks.  It used to be you could get a prosciutto bone from the Italian Pork Store for nothing.  I’m sure they come dear these days.  2.) I don’t know if they are gluten-free. 3.) Many of us are cutting back on or forgoing meat for reasons of health, and/or ethics, and/or compassion.  I don’t think the recipe suffers from this modification.  I have enriched the veggie broth with a base of sauted minced vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, and the addition of pesto (for those who have no nut or cheese allergies) or pistou for those who do.  Although some folks add cheese to pistou, the traditional version does not include it. 

If you must have meat and can’t afford or don’t have access to prosciutto, you could substitute smoked turkey wings or a hunk of gluten-free American ham. Do check the package to be sure it is gluten-free.  Not all hams are.  Other variations:  you could add polpetti (tiny meatballs) or take a page out of the French cookbook and top each serving of minest with a fried egg.

This post includes recipes for minest, pesto, pistou, and vinaigrette salad dressing. As with all recipes on Musing by Moonlight, each is naturally wheat-and-gluten-free or modified to be so for those with Celiac Disease or wheat-and-gluten sensitivity.

GLUTEN-FREE MINEST

The Recipe

Serves six as a main course

• 1 large onion, peeled and minced
• 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 1 celery stalk, minced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, minced
• 4 mushrooms, minced
• Olive Oil (doesn’t have to be first press)
• 1 small head of savoy cabbage, washed, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 bunch of escarole, washed and torn into small pieces
• 1 bunch of swiss chard, washed and torn into small pieces
• 1 – 32 ounce container of  Imagine gluten-free vegetable broth
• 1 cup of cold, filtered water
• 1/2 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, the best you can afford
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Saute the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and mushroom in the olive oil in a pot large enough to accommodate all the greens. When they are lightly browned and beginning to soften, add the both to the pot and follow with the greens.  Simmer until the greens are tender.  Add the extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir.

After you dish out the soup, pass around the pesto or the pistou so that each person can add what they would like to flavor their own bowl of soup.

 

Pesto: Process the following in your food processor, everything but the basil leaves at first.  Once the rest is processed, add the basil.

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
• 1/2 cup freshly grated sheep’s milk pecorino romano
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Pistou: Process the following in your food processor, everything but the basil leaves at first. Once the rest is processed, add the basil. 

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 4 to 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Gluten-free Vinaigrette, adapted from Charles Verion’s French Country Cookbook

The Recipe

Makes 1 1/2 cups

• 3 tablespoons wine vinegar
• 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best you can afford
• 1 tablespoon Annie’s Gluten-free Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh parsley, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh chives, minced or 3/4 teaspoon dried chives
• 3/4 teaspoon dried chervil

Place all the ingredients except any fresh herbs into a mixing bowl and beat vigorously with a wire whisk until well mixed.  Add fresh herbs just before dressing the salad.

~ by brooklynmemoriesmostgreen on February 13, 2009.