Minestrone a la Moosewood

This is minestrone as filtered through The Moosewood Cookbook, the iconic vegetarian cookbook that changed how America thought about meatless cooking in the 1970s. It’s built like a proper Italian minestrone but leans into garden-variety vegetables: chopped onions and garlic, cubed eggplant, celery, carrots, bell peppers, and green peas, all simmered in a tomato-and-red-wine-spiked broth.

The secret move is the low simmer. Rather than boiling everything hard, keep it gentle for 15 minutes so the flavors meld, then hold it at the lowest possible heat until close to serving. That low-and-slow time develops depth without turning the vegetables to mush.

The pasta goes in at the absolute end, boiled just until tender. This keeps the noodles from bloating and absorbing all the broth.

Finish each bowl with chopped fresh parsley and a heavy shower of Parmesan. Non-negotiable? Yes.

Kitchen Tips

• Salt the eggplant for 15 minutes and pat dry before adding to remove any bitterness.
• Use a high-quality tomato passata for the cleanest, brightest tomato flavor.
• Add the pasta only 10 minutes before serving. If you hold the whole soup with pasta in it, noodles turn mushy by dinner.
• This soup tastes even better on day two, but store pasta separately and add fresh.

Variations

• Stir in cooked cannellini or kidney beans for extra protein and heartiness.
• Add a Parmesan rind to the pot while simmering for deeper umami richness.
• Swap red wine for a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end for a brighter tang.