My husband has been away for work the last few days (sampling pizza in NJ and cheesesteaks in Philly—lucky him!), and I confess that when he’s gone I don’t do a lot of cooking. I wish I could say my kids eagerly eat everything I make, but that’s not the case. My daughter will try almost anything and usually enjoys it, but my four-year-old refuses to budge when I beg him to try something new. So when it’s just me and the kids, I tend to keep meals simple—sandwiches, English muffin pizzas, and other easy fixes. Nothing fancy.
Today, though, I felt like cooking. Maybe it was knowing Larry would get home late and hungry after his flight. Maybe it was the veggie drawer full of produce calling my name. Or maybe I just missed cooking after a few quiet days. I’d picked up zucchini, summer squash, and fresh spinach at the farmer’s market over the weekend, and minestrone sounded like the perfect comfort food to use them up.
Have you ever tried polenta like this?
You can find pre-cooked polenta in the produce or deli section of many grocery stores. I discovered it years ago and hadn’t bought it in a while, but I had a tube in the fridge from a recipe I didn’t get around to making. It paired perfectly with the soup tonight. I grew up with homemade polenta my Nonno would make, and while this store-bought version doesn’t compare to that traditional recipe, it’s a quick and tasty side when you want something comforting without a lot of fuss.
Minestrone
Recipe by Aggie
1 TB olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
2–3 carrots, chopped
small palmful dried oregano
small palmful dried thyme
small palmful dried basil
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large zucchini, chopped
2 summer squash, chopped
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes with liquid
1 can water (rinse tomato cans and add the water)
1 can red kidney beans with liquid
1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans with liquid
4–5 cups fresh spinach
Parmesan cheese, for serving
Polenta, sliced about 1/4″ thick
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ground beef and begin to brown. Add the carrots and continue cooking until the beef is cooked through and the carrots are starting to soften. Season with oregano, thyme, basil, salt, and pepper, tasting as you go.
Add the chopped zucchini and squash and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and adjusting seasoning. Add the diced tomatoes and their juices, then add the rinsed tomato-can water. Stir in both cans of beans, including their liquid, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 20 minutes to meld the flavors.
Add the fresh spinach and stir until it wilts into the soup. Continue to simmer for another 20–30 minutes, tasting and adjusting salt and pepper before serving.
While the soup simmers, heat a small nonstick pan over medium heat and add the polenta slices. Sprinkle both sides with a little salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned and slightly crisp, a few minutes per side.
Serve the minestrone hot, topped with grated Parmesan and accompanied by the browned polenta rounds.
PS: My daughter loved this soup and ate it up. My son tried a bite, made a face, and declared it “grown-up food,” so he preferred an English muffin pizza instead.