Federica guidi minestrone soup

Ingredients

Base Vegetables

• Onions - you can use shallots or leek as an alternative.
• Carrots - just regular carrots.
• Celery - and regular celery.
• Garlic (optional) - I like to add whole piece crushed with flat knife to let it release flavor but not overpowering with a strong garlic taste if you mince it.
• Pancetta (optional) - since minestrone is a vegetable soup it's a perfect meal for lent.

  So pancetta, guanciale or lard cut in cubes is completely optional, but it gives an incredible rich, intense flavor to the veggies as if they were cooked in meat stock (which by the way is also an option).

This base mix is nothing else than a slightly extended version of classic Italian Soffritto, which is also the base for many other traditional Italian dishes.

The only difference, which is influenced a lot by a personal preference, is that when making Minestrone Soup I like a slightly chunkier cut as opposed to fine dice soffri