Produce Box Minestrone

Based on kale minestrone and ramp pesto recipes from Bon Appetit

Serves 8

Whenever I receive a box of produce, I am filled with both excitement and anxiety. I am thrilled to have fresh vegetables, but I know I have to come up with ways to respect and honor all my assorted produce before it goes bad. This recipe has helped relieve some of that pressure. It’s adaptable – you can make changes depending on what you receive through your CSA share/have on hand. I’m also including a recipe for ramp pesto, since I happened to get a bunch of ramps a few weeks ago. But, the soup would be just as good with another kind of pesto, or just a drizzle of olive oil and some Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

Minestrone

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 ounces sausage (I thawed out some mystery ground meats from my freezer, which turned out to be 1/2 pound of pork sausage and 1/4 pound of Turkey sausage)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots (or other root vegetables like parsnips), peeled, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup white wine (again, I added a 1/2 cup dry vermouth from the everlasting bottle in my fridge)
• 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce (For extra umami – optional)
• 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (or your favorite alternative bean)
• Black pepper
• 12 ounces potatoes (I used baby Yukon Golds), cut into ½” pieces
• 1 small bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, sliced into 1 inch ribbons (Or any other cooking green like kale or spinach)

Ramp pesto

• 4 ounces ramps, greens separated
• Salt, to taste
• ¼ cup almonts, toasted
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan

Instructions

1. Make the soup: Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until no longer pink. Add the garlic, onion carrots, and celery, carrots, red pepper flakes and oregano. Season with salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the vegetables are tender – 10-12 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat vegetables. Cook until beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan – 1-3 minutes.
2. Add the white wine to deglaze. Stir to scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add tomatoes, 6 cups water and fish sauce if using. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Add potatoes and chickpeas. Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender – 20-25 minutes. Add greens and cook until wilted – about 5 minutes.
4. Make pesto: slice the ramp greens off of the white stems and bulbs. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil, then blanch the greens for about 10 seconds. Transfer greens to a bowl of ice water; drain and squeeze out liquid.
5. Combine the wilted greens with the rest of the pesto ingredients – including the stalks and bulbs of the ramps – into a food processor. Process into a smooth paste. Season to taste with salt.
6. Serve the soup topped with pesto and Parmesan cheese and a side of crusty bread.