Old Nonnie’s Classic Minestrone with Croutons

I’ve finally bitten the bullet and asked my mother to cook with me for the blog. It’s not that she’s not a good cook. To the contrary, she’s an excellent cook. It’s just that it’s my mother and I wasn’t sure I wanted to boss her around in my kitchen and tell her how to cook and where to stand and how to measure … I jest to amuse myself. Those reasons were exactly what got me moving. And I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound… let’s try a family legend, Old Nonnie’s classic minestrone with croutons. Along with her biscotti recipe, this soup melts hearts in our family.

Truly though, it did take me a while because I just couldn’t think of an appropriate debut dish. To peg her down to one dish is impossible since she doesn’t have just one that everyone or even anyone would say is her. I asked siblings and others who know her well, “If Bunny were to die in a fiery ball of a crash tomorrow, what one dish would you miss her making?” After the looks of horror and snorts of righteous indignation (whatevs; I was looking for a visceral response), I got … nothing.   She just cooks well. She’s one of those people who can read a recipe and just know what the dish will taste like and what will go well together. Then she makes it. And we eat it. Wash, rinse, repeat.

And other than her one foray into the depraved depths of cafeteria cooking, the evil world of liver and onions – a day which lives in infamy for two of her children and her youngest sibling who had to sit at the kitchen table for nigh onto four hours because she was too stubborn to admit that no human being should be required to eat a flubby slab o’offal smothered in onions!!!! – she hasn’t really erred too much in the kitchen. Might I point out that the liver and onions event was so long ago that dinosaurs roamed the earth and yet I still remember it like yesterday. Food memory is a huge part of us. Take heed you offal cookers! Pun definitely intended.

Par for the course, I’ve strayed. Anyway, I finally just asked Bunny what she wanted to make and she said that she’d really like to make Nonnie’s minestrone with croutons. This is her Nonnie, my great-grandmother aka Old Nonnie, Lucia Vitiello Polvinale. Great! says I. Bring the recipe and we’ll get right on it. Well, says she, I don’t have a recipe. In fact, I haven’t had the soup in about forty years; but I always loved it. Ah, says I in my thought bubble of a head, this is going to be fun. “Oh”, adds Bunny brightly, “There were also some eggy sort of crouton things that weren’t croutons but were made with cheese that go on top. And they don’t dissolve in the soup.” Aunt Dot calls them CHEE-co-lah … Oye again.

After several weeks of back-and-forth with Bunny and a few phone calls and taste tests with Aunt Dot (all of which led me to be more confused than when I started), we have come up with what the OBs (Old Broads … something that I can call them from afar …Mwahahaha) believe is a very close reproduction of Old Nonnie’s minestrone with egg cube things (which don’t have a name yet but heretofore will be referred to as croutons and yes, please do argue that point in comments;  I really would like a few comments) that is truly a delicious soup.

It’s a time consumer but was a great way to spend the day with Bunny. Between stages, we went to the Italian Store to get bread to go with the soup (and a few gelati for the long-suffering locusts who accompanied us) and a stop at a spice store for a refill on a few necessities and an introduction of bulk spice shopping to Bunny which she rather enjoyed (though her pockey-book may not have).

Once I figure out a dish that screams BUNNY! I’ll be sure to get on the ball with it. In the meantime, I thoroughly enjoyed a day cooking with Mom and hearing stories about Old Nonnie and the others. When I was chatting with Aunt Dot who arrived first for this cook, she was laughing and said, “make sure to have your Mom tell you about almost being May Day queen.” Funny what sorts of conversations stir up memories.

However, note to self, don’t ever do what a person tells you to do when they are laughing. My mother was not the May Day queen. She had that honor boosted from her just seconds before she was to parade about the family farm, Terra Maria (Land of Mary), by a sniveling cousin. There’s still a bit lot of indignation there. Hopefully, the big bowl of minestrone with the properly non-dissolving egg thing without a name on top and a wonderful hunk of Italian bread brought Mom back to Old Nonnie’s kitchen, the smells and tastes, the warmth and love. Food is a powerful memory holder and now we’ve got a bit of Nonnie’s love to pass along.  Mom, Aunt Dot, and Uncle Frank (who arrived for taste-testing) gave the soup and croutons two-thumbs up and Aunt Dot declared it a “wonderful food remembrance.”  So, there you go….

Enjoy this trip down memory lane.

This soup is a day-long adventure.  It’s neither difficult nor daunting.  Put the chicken in the pot with all the goodies needed for the stock and then move on … This is an excellent rainy day or football day dish to make because the house will be warm and smell divine and the pot at the end of the rainbow is sure to please.

This is Locatelli Pecorino Romano.  If the rounded edge is not noted with the name (and this generally goes for Parmigiano Reggiano and any of the other hard aged pedigreed cheeses) they are not authentic.  It’s worth the extra money to get the real thing.  And then grate lots of it.  And then eat some of it with a nice red wine – cook’s treat!  To borrow from the French, get your mise en place done … just prep everything at once and use as needed.  You’ll need plenty of Romano, garlic and parsley for this recipe.

While the chicken is simmering away, prep the meatballs.  You’ll use a bit of the garlic, Romano, and parsley here.  This is a very wet, loose texture.  When you roll them, it’s more of a plop-plop from hand to hand to get the rounded shape.  If you try to roll like Play-Doh, you’ll have an unpleasant schmear on your palm.  Be gentle.

Put the meatballs on a very well oiled sheet pan.  I am a foil lover since I am a cleaning nut who is lazy.  Once you put the meatballs in the oven, wait for the mingling loveliness of aromas of the chicken and the meatballs.  And once the croutons go into the oven, prepare to be amazed!

Next, croutons.  More of the Romano, garlic and parsley.  These flavor ties really become apparent when you have them all together in the bowl.  Editing this post is rather difficult since I have none left to nibble on for inspiration.  I see another go at Old Nonnie’s minestrone with croutons in my near future!

Back to instructions … Schmear the crouton batter onto a sheet pan covered in parchment or into a very well oiled 9×13 pyrex or other stick-free pan.  They are a bugger to get loose otherwise.

After removing from the oven, cut the croutons when warm. They crumble if you want until they cool completely.  Still tasty but not as pretty.  They should have no spring when they come out of the oven.  They have the texture of a biscotti, kind of grainy and quite firm.  Refill your wine glass and taste one of these fine little nibbles.  Cook’s treat!

Et voila! The croutons … just because I figured out how to use the zoom lens without getting a woogy picture.  Also helps to see the texture.

And finally, Old Nonnie’s minestrone with croutons with a little drizzle of fruity extra virgin olive oil … this is where you can break out the good stuff because it doesn’t get cooked but the soup’s heat does help the flavor bloom.  Add a sprinkle of the leftover Romano and a few croutons and soup’s on!

Mom and Aunt Dot are adding more escarole and giving the soup another once over before we eat.  I had sweaty palms before they dug in.  Taking on a memory dish is quite the endeavor.  In the end, the minestrone with croutons was pronounced a hit and the old stories started a’rolling, a sure sign that we’d done right by Nonnie.

I hope you’ll give this soup a try.  It really is tasty and it feeds a crowd … a great reason to invite over family and friends.  Tell them to bring more wine … you’ll be out.  Enjoy!