Minestrone della Casa

Ingredients

• 2 cans white beans, one drained
• 2 Zucchini, diced
• 2 Carrot, diced
• 1 onion + 2 celery stalks + 3 cloves garlic
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• ½ cup small pasta or rice
• 6 cups stock
• 1 parmesan rind if you have one (the nonna move)
• Olive oil, basil, grated parmesan

Method

1. Soften the onion, celery, and garlic in olive oil; add the Zucchini and Carrot for 3 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, beans, stock, and — if you have one — the parmesan rind, which will quietly enrich everything like a well-connected relative.
3. Simmer 20 minutes, then add the pasta for its package time.
4. Mash a few beans against the pot for body. Fish out the rind (chef's chewy treasure).
5. Finish with basil, good oil, and parmesan snow. There is no fixed recipe for minestrone and never has been — whatever the garden or crisper offers is canonically correct.