Sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of hot tea that smells of flowers and citrus fruits, I write down the recipe for the soup I made recently, thinking about the pleasant comfort that only hot food can provide on the coldest days.
Soups, minestre, and vellutate are home-cooked dishes that are essential for eating well and for coping better with everyday life.
I often prepare these recipes. Even if today everything seems to be the same soup.
Soups that become minestrone, minestrone presented as soups. And what about cream soups?
All this confusion is disappointing. Because if we don’t know what we’re cooking, we don’t even know what we’re eating.
Zuppe, minestre e vellutate: the Italian world of soups
Most zuppe and minestre are dishes of the cucina povera (poor cuisine) of peasant origin.
They are prepared with simple ingredients we almost always have in the pantry, are inexpensive, and follow the season.
Zuppe had a base of vegetables and dry bread. Then dry bread gave way to croutons, which we often find alongside the dish rather than inside it today. And to the vegetables, some people frequently add pancetta or other ingredients.
The term zuppa derives from the archaic suppa, which meant ‘soaked bread’.
In minestre, on the other hand, there is always pasta or rice, along with one or more vegetables.
Both are broth-based and eaten with a spoon, but the ingredients are coarsely chopped. They are comforting in winter. I also love them in summer, especially for the garden’s flavors.
Just as hot soups warm and nourish, summer soups refresh and satisfy without lacking in flavor.
And what about vellutate? These are yet another recipe, different from the previous ones.
Cream (crema di verdure) or vellutata, usually made with vegetables, are also eaten with a spoon but are blended and take their name from their smooth consistency.
What do you prefer?
I wouldn’t know which to choose.
Italy has a veritable wealth of stories, recipes, and traditions surrounding the preparation of soups, linked to peasant cuisine and recycling, and today, fortunately, also celebrated by chefs and famous cooks.
Some of these, in skilled hands and old earthenware pots, are genuine poems of taste.
This soup is delicious and flavorful.
And now, as my cup of tea is almost finished, it’s time to share the recipe without further ado.
Buona cucina, Monica
Cook with me
One of my favorite soups is pancotto alla Romagnola: a simple, traditional recipe for using up stale bread.
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Potato and leek minestra
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
- 800 g of yellow-fleshed potatoes
- 130 g of leek, approximately, or onion or shallot
- 1 L of vegetable broth
- 20 g of butter optional
- 30 g of olive oil
- salt to taste
- 160 g of short pasta such as tubetti
Instructions
- Peel and wash the potatoes. Cut about 600 g of potatoes into large pieces and the rest into small cubes, setting them aside separately.
- Remove the root ends and the outer leave. Wash, dry, and cut into thin slices. If you want a more delicate flavor, do not use the greenest part. For a stronger flavor, use both the white and green parts.
- In a pot for soup, melt the butter in the oil (if you prefer, use only olive oil). Add the leek and a pinch of salt. Stir and cook over a low heat for about 3 minutes, keeping an eye on it.
- Remove about 3/4 of the leeks from the pot and add the coarsely chopped potatoes (setting aside the rest). Pour in all the broth, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and continue cooking over medium-low heat for about 10-12 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft (test with a fork; if you can pierce them easily, they are ready).
- Turn off the heat and blend everything with an immersion blender until creamy. Taste and adjust the salt, then add the potato cubes and cook over low heat for a few minutes before adding the pasta and stewed leek.
- Continue cooking over medium-low heat until the pasta is al dente (check the instructions on the package for the cooking time).
- Let the soup rest for a minute or two before serving. Then serve the soup hot with a final sprinkling of black pepper if you like, and grated cheese on the side.
Tip
- Do not prepare it in advance, or the pasta will be overcooked. What you can do is prepare the potato cream and then cook the potato cubes and pasta in it.
