Cooking & Spirituality: Winter Minestrone Soup

By Lucia Ferrara

This is my dad’s recipe for Winter Minestrone Soup. He said it was made the way his mom made it. Your family is sure to enjoy it as much as I did growing up and as my kids do today.

My dad was from Croatia, and over there they cooked with a lot of beans, vegetables and seafood (though we’re not cooking with seafood today.) The beans, the cabbage, and kale are the staples that would have be available to him at this time of year, hence “winter” minestrone.

It is really a wonderful soup for a cold winter day; it really warms you up. The difference between a soup and a minestrone is that minestrone tends to be a little thicker. This makes a big pot, serves 8-12, but don’t worry about eating it all at once. The secret about this minestrone is that it is better the next day!

Minestrone Soup — Ingredient list

• 2 cups cannellini beans
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cups butternut squash
• 1 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes, whole peeled
• 16 oz green lentils, soaked overnight in water*
• 2 ½ cups fresh kale, chopped
• Half of a savory cabbage (or napa cabbage)
• 3 bay leaves
• Crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 1 tsp thyme (fresh if you have it)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 64 oz chicken broth (water works fine, too)

Minestrone Base: Chop all these ingredients until you have a paste:

• 8-10 oz Pancetta
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Handful of fresh parsley

When plating the minestrone, top with grated parmesan grana cheese and serve with toasted artisan bread.

*If you didn’t soak lentils overnight, you can do a rapid soak. Put the lentils in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them. Bring the pan to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and then let sit for 20 minutes.

Cooking as Spiritual Practice

The following prayer is excerpted from “Prayer to the Mother of God in Gratitude for Gifts Received,” which can be found in the book Prayers for the Domestic Church by Fr. Edward Hays.

 Honor be yours,

O Mother of God.

We rejoice in thanksgiving

For signs of God’s love.

We take great joy in the fruitfulness of the earth,

In good harvests, in full barns

And in the special signs given to us this day. …

Mary,

Blessed Mother and gateway to mystic love,

Help us to be untied with all those

who love God and seek truth.

May our gratitude this day

For the special gifts that have come to us,

Be praised and honor

For our God, the Lord of All Gifts.

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All the articles and videos in the Cooking and Spirituality Series can be found here.

[Lucia Ferrara, the Director of Hospitality at Precious Blood Renewal Center. Share your thoughts with Lucia or ask her questions using the form below or by sending an email to info@pbrenewalcenter.org.]

 

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