Vegetarian Minestrone

Homemade minestrone has got to be one of the best rainy-day foods in the world. Living in Seattle we've got ample opportunity to test that theory. It is certainly miles beyond the canned version. Add a couple of big garlicky croutons to soak up the broth, maybe a salad, and you have a whole meal. The version of minestrone I always come back to is based on Marcella Hazan's Minestrone alla Romagnola recipe in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. I've just streamlined it a bit (soaking zucchini? why?) and omitted the beef broth to make it vegetarian. 

I think you will find that it is equally delicious with the simple tomatoey broth, especially if you include the parmesan rind. The what? That's right, the parmesan rind. You know when you buy a piece of Parmigiano-Reggiano, there is always that piece at the end that is too hard to grate? Scrub those a bit and throw them in the freezer. Then, when you are ready to make a minestrone, toss it in the pot. While the soup simmers, all that incredible flavor extracts out, filling the soup with umami. (Of course, you can omit this for a vegan version.) As Marcella points out, this is one of those lovely dishes that doesn't require perfect advance preparation. You can easily prepare and cut each vegetable as the previous one is added to the pot and sauteed. You can toss this soup together and let it simmer for just an hour, and it will be good. But if you can let it simmer for two or three hours, the flavor will truly develop. Even better, make it a day ahead of time and reheat it.