Live to 100 minestrone

For many years, this nourishing soup was the main meal in Sardinian households. Use this recipe as a guide and make it your own with different beans or greens.

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1:30 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Minestone is a big deal all over Italy, but the most famous minestrone comes from Sardinia. Our grandparents at it almost every day. This might sound boring, but actually the recipe would vary depending on what was available and what was in season. Minestrone is a great example of why Sardinia is one of only five 'blue zones' in the world and why people here are more likely to live to 100 years old. It's a simple, accessible dish packed full of seasonal vegetables and legumes. Even today, minestrone is still something we eat very often. My advice would be to use this recipe as a guide but try to make it seasonal and make it your own. Swap things in and out, use different pulses or different greens.

Ingredients

Minestrone

• 100 g (3 ½ oz) dried borlotti (cranberry) beans (or use tinned, see Note)
• 100 g (3½ oz) dried chickpeas (garbanzo beans) (or use tinned, see Note)
• 1 onion, roughly diced
• 2 celery sticks, chopped into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
• 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped into 1 cm (½ inch) cubes
• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 15 g (½ oz) basil
• 15 g (½ oz) parsley, finely chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped (or halved if using small tomatoes)
• 1 large potato, peeled and chopped into 2 cm (¾ inch) cubes
• 4 large Savoy cabbage leaves, tough stalks removed and roughly chopped
• 40 g (1½ oz) pecorino, grated, or 3-4 tbsp pangrattato
• fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pangrattato (optional)

• 300 g (10 ½ oz) leftover or stale bread, chopped into small chunks
• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 30 g (1oz) 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

Soaking time: overnight

Instructions

1. If making pangrattato (this can be done in advance, or while the minestrone is cooking): 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. 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 to have a rough texture. If you are working with a small food processor, do this in batches.
2. 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. 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 (see Note) 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. (The recipe makes 1 x 500 g (1lb 2oz) jar.)
3. For the minestrone: 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).
4. The next day, drain and then rinse the beans and chickpeas thoroughly with fresh water. Set aside.
5. 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 1–1½ hours, or until the beans and chickpeas are soft. If needed, top up with water so that the vegetables are always submerged.
6. 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.

Notes and Tips

• For the pangrattato, bear in mind that the breadcrumbs will dry out completely while cooling, so don’t overcook them as this will result in very dark breadcrumbs with a bitter aftertaste. Make sure that the pangrattato is completely cool before storing it. Any residual heat can create condensation in the jar that will develop bacteria and will lead to spoilage.
• If you want to keep pangrattato in the pantry, use only dried herbs (like dried oregano, dried rosemary, etc.) and do not use any fresh ingredients (like garlic). Fresh ingredients like garlic and fresh herbs contain moisture, which can cause the breadcrumbs to spoil faster, leading to mould or bacterial growth.
• With the minestrone, if you want to save time or you are making this at the last minute, you can swap out the dried pulses for 250 g (9 oz) tinned borlotti beans and 250 g (9 oz) tinned chickpeas. If using tinned, add them along with the cabbage.
• Sometimes we also add fregula or small pasta shapes towards the end of the cooking time, along with some extra water.

This is an edited extract from Eat Like A Sardinian by Francesco Mattana, photography by Dave Brown. (Murdoch Books $45.00) 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.