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MINESTRINA TRICOLORE: POTATO SOUP WITH CARROTS AND CELERY
Serves 4 to 6
When I became a wife and, by necessity, a cook, this was one of the first
dishes I learned to make. Decades have gone by in which I have had my hand
in uncounted dozens of other soups, but I turn still to this minestrina
little soup-for its charm, its delightful contrast of textures, its artless
goodness, its never-failing power to please.
1 1/2 pounds potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons onion
chopped fine
3 tablespoons carrot chopped
fine
3 tablespoons celery
chopped fine
5 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional
cheese at the table
1 cup milk
2 cups Basic Homemade Meat Broth, prepared as directed on page 15, OR 1/2
CUP canned beef broth diluted with 1 1/2 cups water
Salt
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Crostini, fried bread squares.
1. Peel the potatoes, rinse them in cold water, and cut them up in small
pieces. Put them in a soup pot with just enough cold water to cover, put
a lid on the pot, and turn on the heat to medium high. Boil the potatoes
until they are tender, then purée them, with their liquid, through
the large holes of a food mill back into the pot. Set aside.
2. Put the butter, oil, and chopped onion in a skillet and turn on the heat
to medium. Sauté the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold.
Add the chopped carrot and celery and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring
the vegetables to coat them well. Don't cook them long enough to become
soft because you want them noticeably crisp in the soup.
3. Transfer thé entire contents of the skillet to the pot with the
potatoes.Turn on the heat to medium, and add the grated Parmesan, the milk,
and the broth. Stir and cook at a steady simmer for several minutes until
the cooking fat floating on the surface is dispersed throughout the soup.
Don't let the soup become thicker than cream in consistency. If that should
happen, dilute it with equal parts of broth and milk. Taste and correct
for salt. Off heat, swirl in the chopped parsley, then ladle into individual
plates or bowls. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan and crostini on the
side.
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