Minestrone With Chicken for a Crowd
The More the Merrier
Minestrone With Chicken for a Crowd | Dara O’Brien
By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press
My dream summer vacation involves gathering with a lot of my favorite people at a rambling house with a pool or on a beach and doing a lot of cooking.
Some people may question the cooking part of that scenario—perhaps even seek to verify if this is indeed a vacation I am talking about. Would I also like to wash the sheets every day and hang them out to dry? Bleach the grout? Beat the rugs?
I get it. Vacations are a chance to escape and unwind, and for many of us, especially parents with kids at home, getting dinner on the table is not a particularly restful prospect. But it sounds idyllic to me. Hang around the pool by day, host dinner parties and barbecues by night. Bingo.
But then preparing a meal for a bunch of people isn’t something I do very often, since I live in a one-bedroom apartment without people to feed. I also don’t have a yard, a grill, or a pool. So I tend to throw small get-togethers, and fantasize about how fablous it would be to host dinner for twelve on my bi-level deck.
Toni Lydecker’s recipe for Minestrone with Chicken for a Crowd (from her book “Piatto Unico,” published by Lake Isle Press) has a slot in the hypothetical meal plan for my dream summer retreat. It feeds a lot of people with little effort, and since it only gets better as it sits in the fridge it can easily be made ahead.
To cut down on prep time the recipe offers a few shortcuts, such as the option of using canned beans and packaged shredded zucchini, carrot, and cabbage. I chose to incorporate dried beans following Toni’s recipe for White Beans with Sage and Garlic, which was simple enough. And while I added pre-shredded cabbage, I shredded the carrots and zucchini myself with my food processor. I didn’t include any beef bones and the broth was plenty flavorful without them.
Since I was making this soup for just three people, I cut the recipe in half, which provided a delicious light meal with equally delicious leftovers. I made it ahead, using 1¼ pounds of skinless bone-in chicken thighs. After a thirty-minute simmer the meat was perfectly cooked and fell right off the bone; skimming the foam as it cooked meant there was no grease to deal with later on. As Toni advised, I stored both the shredded chicken and the beans separately from the rest of soup and included them when reheating when I was ready to serve. I cooked the pasta separately and added it then as well.
I served this soup as the last course of a lazy Sunday dinner. My guests arrived in the late afternoon for cocktails and a charcuterie appetizer. We nibbled for a relaxed few hours, then enjoyed Minestrone and a simple salad. All that was missing was the evening breeze and a dip in the pool.
Minestrone with Chicken for a Crowd
Click here for printable recipe.
Makes about 7 quarts (14 servings) | Prep: 1 hour | Cook: about 1½ hours
INGREDIENTS
2½ pounds bone-in chicken thighs
1 pound beef bones (optional)
2 bay leaves
1 large onion
2 or 3 cloves garlic
3 stalks celery
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 small package (8 ounces) shredded carrots (see note)
1 small package (8 ounces) shredded or julienned zucchini
1 small package (8 ounces) shredded cabbage or slaw mix
1 (28-ounce) can or carton diced tomatoes with juice (such as Pomì)
Sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning blend, or a combination of dried oregano and thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups mini rotelli, pastine (soup pasta), or other small pasta
3 cups cooked white beans with sage and garlic with some of their broth or the same quantity of canned beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, or aged pecorino cheese, or more to taste
Country bread (optional)
PREPARATION
Place the chicken and beef bones (if using) in a 6- to 8-quart saucepan. Add the bay leaves and fill about two-thirds full with cold water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, skimming off the scum that rises to the top.
Meanwhile, chop the onion, finely chop the garlic, and cut the celery into small dice. In a skillet, sauté́ the onion in a generous quantity of olive oil (about ¼ cup) over medium heat until tender and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook briefly until fragrant.
With tongs, transfer the chicken thighs to a bowl; cool until they can be handled. Cut the chicken meat into bite-size pieces, discarding the skin and bones. Discard the beef bones if you used them.
Add the onion-garlic mixture to the broth in the saucepan. Add the celery, carrots, zucchini, cabbage, tomatoes, 2 heaping tablespoons salt, the Italian seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of the pepper. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. (At this point, the soup and chicken thighs can be held separately, refrigerated, for up to a day; skim any fat off chilled soup before reheating).
If the saucepan is nearly full at this point, transfer half of the contents to another saucepan. Add water if the soup seems too dense. When it comes to a simmer, add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and beans; taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Simmer a few minutes longer to blend the flavors and finish cooking the pasta.
Serve with the grated cheese and hunks of country bread.
NOTE
As an alternative to buying shredded carrots, zucchini, and cabbage, prepare them in your food processor, using the shredding attachment.
WHITE BEANS WITH SAGE AND GARLIC
Click here for printable recipe.
Makes about 3 cups |
Prep: 10 minutes (plus up to 6 hours soaking time for the beans) |
Cook: 1 to 2 hours
INGREDIENTS
1 cup small dried white beans
1 large sprig fresh sage
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
Sea salt or kosher salt
PREPARATION
Place the beans in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water; soak for 6 hours or as directed on the package.
Drain the beans and wash under running water, picking them over to remove any pieces of grit. Return the beans to the saucepan and cover with fresh cold water to a depth of several inches above the beans. Add the sage and garlic.
Bring the bean mixture to a boil; reduce the heat to a bare simmer, partially cover, and cook until the beans are tender but still hold their shape, 1 to 2 hours. Remove and discard the sage and garlic; season lightly with salt.
Recipe from “PIatto Unico” by Toni Lydecker, Lake Isle Press, 2011
Minestrone With Chicken for a Crowd Recipe
From “Piatto Unico”
by Toni Lydecker, Lake Isle Press, 2011
“As you have no doubt heard and observed, a real Italian meal consists of several courses. Except when it doesn’t.” —Toni Lydecker
A languorous multi-course Italian meal is a traditional and wonderful thing; in this authoritative collection, Toni Lydecker leads us to the simple beauty of the piatto unico or one-course Italian meal. Well-balanced and packed with bold flavors, the piatto unico pairs the rustic simplicity of great Italian cooking with a modern sensibility.
ALSO FROM “PIATTO UNICO”
Braised Chicken With Sweet Bell Peppers
Couscous Confetti Salad with Tuna Recipe
Herbed Roast Pork Tenderloin with Parsnip Puree Recipe
Mountain Salad With Bacon, Fontina, and Sweet-Sour Onions Recipe
Orecchiette Al Fumo Recipe
Pot Roast with Porcini and Root Vegetables Recipe
Spring Greens With Rice Soup Recipe