Minestrone with Pasta and Beans

I knew that this was one of our family favorites and so I made it for a birthday party on Sunday and again for a luncheon on Thursday. It was a huge success! (no surprise on my part, my husband loves it!) Even my two year old loves this soup! It is from a cookbook my brother-in-law gave us, The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia, the Italian name for this recipe is Minestrone alla milanese and here is what the book has to say about it, "This classic minestrone from Lombardy includes pancetta for a pleasant touch of saltiness. Milanese cooks vary the recipe according to what is at hand, and you can do the same." I love this book! We've liked everything we've tried out of it, it's also all authentic recipes from Italy. My husband lived in Italy for a few years and he's looked up his favorite meals from those years and found them in this cookbook. If you love Italian it is a must have!

(I erased the Copy-righted material, email me if you have questions ksecretsandsuccess@gmail.com and I'll post an adaptation of the recipe at some point)

Pancetta- Is a seasoned bacon, it looks like little circles, also in the specialty section. Sometimes I use plain old hickory smoked bacon and the flavor is just as good. I use my kitchen sheers to cut the bacon into 1-inch pieces because it's easier than trying to slice it.

Garlic- How much? Well, we love garlic so I usually put the equivalent of two large cloves, if you like less garlic only use one. When I say medium sized I mean ruffly 1 inch long, 1 inch wide, 1 inch across. If you've never cooked with fresh garlic before you must remove all the papery outside and the purpley paper inside. The clove is a cream color, it can be a pain to remove the purple part. I usually cut off both ends of the clove and then it is easier to remove the purple part. I use a garlic press and then cut up what isn't push through and add that as well. If you do not have a garlic press chop the garlic up very small. If you do not have fresh garlic at all use garlic powder (1 tsp=1 large clove).

Tomatoes- You can used home canned tomatoes too! Also if you don't like chunks of tomato in your soup process the tomatoes before adding them to your soup.

Chicken Stock- Homemade or canned is best. You can use the dry powder or cubes added to water, but I find it WAY too salty. I would say use the canned stuff and then if you need to add more broth at the end, use the powder and water.

Cannellini beans- I haven't had any success in finding these in the store. I substitute with Great white Northern, or White beans.

Macaroni- We're not huge fans of macaroni, it's just so boring to eat! This week I used mini Penne (probably our favorite for this recipe). Mini farfalle, or wheels would be good, or mini shells. The recipe only calls for 1/2 cup, if you use penne use 1 cup, if you use a smaller pasta put in a little less than 1/2 cup.

Parsley- If you have it fresh go ahead and add it, I don't have the fresh stuff and I don't like it dried so I omit it altogether!

Salt- the soup really doesn't need much salt, the cheese you add to your individual bowl is salty enough. So here is my suggestion. Quickly sprinkle the salt shaker across the soup 2 or 3 times. Don't add any if you used straight water and chicken bouillon.

Freshly Ground Pepper- If you don't have this use black pepper to taste. Use about the same amount of pepper as salt, more if you like a spicier flavor.

Enjoy! You can email me at ksecretsandsuccess@gmail.com if you have any questions! Also be sure to let me know if liked the recipe by leaving a comment after you try it!

Kels