Our very long-time family friend, Barbara, passed on this beautiful recipe to my mom and I this winter and it looked so tempting and hearty I knew I needed to make it. I think this recipe is fantastic because it can be made completely ahead of time and reheated when time for dinner or lunch. Also, it could be made vegetarian by leaving out the pancetta and using vegetable stock instead of chicken.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

I followed the recipe pretty closely but used elbow pasta (since I had no tubetti), and skipped the butternut squash but added sliced leek (removed the outermost leaves and diced the white-light green sections). I also only used half an onion (due to adding the leek) and substituted dried thyme leaves for fresh. A pretty good amount of prep went into chopping up all the ingredients but after that it was a breeze. I always like to go over a recipe before jumping in so I can make sure everything that needs slicing, dicing, or searching for in the pantry is done ahead of time. I’ve had more than one recipe in my past ruined because I wasn’t paying attention while having to “prep” the next step. So thankfully I’ve learned that lesson now! I cooked the pasta and diced the pancetta and veggies all before I actually dove into the step by step instructions.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Once I started to cook the pancetta and veggies, oh my goodness my kitchen smelled divine. The rest of it went by in a flash and since I made it ahead of time, I let it cool a little, covered the pot, and put it in the fridge. Then, when it was time for dinner I reheated the soup, added the spinach, dash of wine, and pesto and heated up my bread. In the end, I didn’t make my own garlic bruschetta but instead heated up some store-bought garlic bread because I didn’t have any spare baguette on hand.

©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

This soup came out perfectly–perfecting seasoning, not a drop of salt was needed additionally, and it was not salty but not plain. It was so truly delicious and hearty. And we have leftovers for 2 more meals! Here’s my winter minestrone: #meatlessmonday #barefootcontessa

Winter Minestrone & Garlic Bruschetta ©EverydayCookingAdventures 2013

Ina Garten’s Winter Minestrone & Garlic Bruschetta

Ingredients:

• Good olive oil
• 2 ounces pancetta, ½-inch-diced
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 1 cups (½-inch) diced carrots (2 carrots)
• 1 cups (½-inch) diced celery (2 stalks)
• 1 3/4 cups (½-inch) diced peeled butternut squash
• 3/4 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) canned or boxed chopped tomatoes, such as Pomi
• 3 to 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (7.5-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cooked small pasta, such as tubetti
• 2 big handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves
• 1/4 cup good dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon store-bought pesto
• Garlic Bruschetta (recipe follows)
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions: 
1) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the pancetta and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

2) Add the onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic, and thyme and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, the bay leaf, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 ½ teaspoons pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

3) Discard the bay leaf. Add the beans and cooked pasta and heat through. The soup should be quite thick but if it’s too thick, add more chicken stock.

4) Just before serving, reheat the soup, add the spinach, and toss with 2 big spoons (like tossing a salad). Cook just until the leaves are wilted. Stir in the white wine and pesto. Depending on the saltiness of the chicken stock, add another teaspoon or two of salt to taste.

5) Serve large shallow bowls of soup with a bruschetta on top. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and serve hot.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: You can make this soup ahead and reheat it before serving. It will need to be re-seasoned.

Garlic Bruschetta

• 1 baguette
• Good olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, cut in half lengthwise

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
2. Slice the baguette at a 45-degree angle in inch-thick slices. Brush both sides of the bread with olive oil and bake for 6 minutes, until lightly toasted. Take the slices out of the oven and rub the surface of each one with the cut clove of garlic.