It’s almost Mother’s Day. When Emily Falke, our Deputy Director & Curator, isn’t designing, installing, and hanging our captivating exhibits, she’s writing cookbooks and winning competitions (like the 2019 Strawberry Festival Recipe Contest ). A mother and grandmother herself, you can taste Emily’s passion for gourmet cooking in her Mom’s Minestrone recipe. Use your pantry staples and let us know what you think.
Mom’s Minestrone
Ingredients 1 baguette, buttered and toasted 1/4 pound salt pork, diced (omit if vegetarian/vegan) 1 large onion, diced 8 cloves garlic, crushed 2 carrots, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1/2 cup parsley, chopped 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, plus juice 15 ounce can refried beans 2 14-15 ounce cans beef or vegetable broth 6 ounces red wine 1 small head red cabbage, sliced thin 2 zucchini, sliced in rounds 1 bunch fresh spinach stemmed, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup dry small pasta, shells or elbow macaroni 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated (omit if vegetarian/vegan – add vegan substitute)Steps -To make soup, in a large skillet fry salt pork until brown and crisp. (Use butter or olive oil if vegetarian/vegan) -Add onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and parsley. Cook over medium heat for 2 minutes until onion and garlic are just translucent. -Add tomatoes with juice, refried beans, broth, wine, salt and pepper and simmer for two hours. -Just before serving, add dry pasta to soup and cook for about 6-8 minutes. Add zucchini and cabbage to soup 4 minutes before serving. -Add spinach 2 minutes before serving; so barely wilted. -Ladle into soup bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese. -Serve with
a toasted buttered baguette.