Minestrone with Kale and Turnips
There are as many versions of minestrone are there are cooks in Italy (and elsewhere!). As long as it’s a vegetable soup with an Italian accent, you can call it minestrone. We make ours with turnips, carrots, celery, cannellini beans, tomato, elbow pasta and lots of lacinato kale (a.k.a. Tuscan kale or dinosaur kale). Dicing all the veg and prepping the kale takes a minute, so we take a shortcut by opening a can of cannellinis. That way if the minestrone spirit strikes you late one afternoon, you can have it on the table that evening.
For the kale, in addition to the leaves, we chop the stems finely and include half of them, freezing the other half (we’ll use it in another soup, such as a lentil soup, later). Feel free to include all, if you like — it’ll change the character of the soup a wee bit, but it’ll still be good. In fact you can play with the ingredients and composition as much as you like. Minestrone is in the eye of the beholder!
If you happen to have a parmesan rind or two, definitely add that — it gives the soup a bit of richness and extra umami. (For us, it’s a reason to always be sure to save parmesan rinds — they keep indefinitely stored in the fridge in a zipper bag.) If you’d like a vegan version, skip that, and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.
We’ve included exact measurements for cooks who like hand-holding, but this is definitely a recipe where you can just grab two or three carrots and a couple turnips, and not sweat the exact amounts.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Ingredients
2 small bunches lacinato (Tuscan) kale (about 530 grams / 1 1/2 pounds)
100 ml olive oil / 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (about 200 grams / 7 ounces), finely chopped
2 medium carrots (about 140 grams / 5 ounces), peeled and cut into small dice
2 medium turnips (about 454 grams / 1 pound), peeled and cut into small dice
4 celery stalks (about 200 grams / 7 ounces), cut into small dice
3 thyme branches
4 nice-sized garlic cloves, minced
1 (411 gram / 14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 liter / 4 cups chicken broth, plus more as needed
75 grams / 1/2 cup small elbow macaroni
1 (439 gram / 15.5 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
1 or 2 pieces of parmesan rind, if you happen to have them (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
1. Use a small sharp knife to remove the tough inner stems from the kale. Chop them finely, set aside half, and reserve the other half for another use. Cut the leaves into strips, and cut the strips in half or thirds. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the kale stems, onion, carrots, turnips, celery and thyme and cook the vegetables slowly, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat, until they’re soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the kale leaves (it will look like too much, but it’s not!), and use two wooden spoons to coat them for a minute or two.
3. Stir in the diced tomatoes, including their liquid. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring once or twice. Add the chicken broth, the macaroni, the cannellini beans and the parmesan rind or rinds (if using) and one teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil again, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook at a simmer, partially covered, for about 90 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft and the soup is luscious. Stir it occasionally, adding more chicken broth or water to as necessary to keep it soupy but thick. (You’ll probably need to add a cup or more.) Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste (you’ll probably need about another teaspoon, maybe more, depending on the broth you used).
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Minestrone with Kale and Turnips
Ingredients
- 2 small bunches lacinato (Tuscan) kale (about 530 grams / 1 1/2 pounds)
- 100 ml olive oil / 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion (about 200 grams / 7 ounces), finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots (about 140 grams / 5 ounces), peeled and cut into small dice
- 2 medium turnips (about 454 grams / 1 pound), peeled and cut into small dice
- 4 celery stalks (about 200 grams / 7 ounces), cut into small dice
- 3 thyme branches
- 4 nice-sized garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (411 gram / 14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 liter / 4 cups chicken broth, plus more as needed
- 75 grams / 1/2 cup small elbow macaroni
- 1 (439 gram / 15.5 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
- 1 or 2 pieces of parmesan rind, if you happen to have them (optional)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Use a small sharp knife to remove the tough inner stems from the kale. Chop them finely, set aside half, and reserve the other half for another use. Cut the leaves into strips, and cut the strips in half or thirds. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the kale stems, onion, carrots, turnips, celery and thyme and cook the vegetables slowly, stirring occasionally, over medium-low heat, until they’re soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the kale leaves (it will look like too much, but it’s not!), and use two wooden spoons to coat them for a minute or two.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, including their liquid. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring once or twice. Add the chicken broth, the macaroni, the cannellini beans and the parmesan rind or rinds (if using) and one teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil again, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook at a simmer, partially covered, for about 90 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft and the soup is luscious. Stir it occasionally, adding more chicken broth or water to as necessary to keep it soupy but thick. (You’ll probably need to add a cup or more.) Add freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste (you’ll probably need about another teaspoon, maybe more, depending on the broth you used).