Rob's Minestrone Della Monna

Robert Trimboli producing his legendary Minestrone at his Hawthorndene home. Picture: Matt Turner Source: AdelaideNow

As he explains it: "The first generation try to lose who they are and realise they can't while the next generation embrace it fully."

Hence, Rob's mastery of, and profound pride in his, culinary heritage and his amazingly wonderful minestrone soup.

He calls it minestrone della nonna, since it is his grandmother's recipe, her technique and is cooked in the spirit of his grandmother and all the Trimbolis.

It's simmering in the kitchen, dense steam rising and with it a tomato fragrance summoning the spirit of classic southern Italian fare.

Rob is making two minestrones because it is a soup which is always better the next day, he says.

"It must have borlotti beans and the addition of whole potatoes, which one just squashes up when they are cooked, gives it a special velvety texture," Rob advises.

"My grandmother says 'If you can't stand a spoon up in it, it's not minestrone'," he laughs and sticks the wooden spoon in the middle of the pot. It stands easily. "Everyone cooks in my family and food is the glue that sticks the family together," he says.

Rob now loves to cook for his mingled family wife Jenni and her three, aged 16, 14, and 12, and their little one-year-old.

"Mealtimes are when we all put down the mobile phones and gather at the table to communicate with each other, to talk about the day," he says. Lately, the talk is about a new family business a Balhannah gourmet shop Rob is calling The Red Door Food Store.

Naturally, he has a thriving kitchen garden with herbs and vegetables. He also has a walk-in pantry of impeccable orderliness. This was inspired not by grandmother but by Nigella Lawson, he admits, as he shaves parmesan on to the bowls of steaming soup.

It is served with oven-crisped, buttery bread and family-made red wine but it needs nothing. Chances are there's no minestrone better.

ROB'S MINESTRONE DELLA NONNA

Olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

Handful of parsley finely chopped

2 sage leaves

1 garlic clove finely chopped

150g pancetta cubed (or bacon for a mild smoky flavour)

2 carrots, cut in half then sliced

2 celery stalks, halved then sliced

3 whole potatoes

1 glass white wine

1 tbsp tomato puree

400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 cup dried borlotti beans, soaked overnight, rinsed ( or just use a can straight away)

Handful basil leaves (6- 7

good-sized leaves)

3 litres chicken or vegetable stock (when using pre-made, use 2 litres of chicken and 1 litre of water due to the high salt content of pre-made stock)

Handful runner beans, cut into 4cm lengths

1/4 cabbage, shredded

6-7 spinach leaves, stalks removed

Handful shelled peas

1 cup of ditalini*

Grated parmesan cheese

In a large cooking pot, add a good lashing of olive oil. Add the onion, parsley, sage, garlic and pancetta. Cook over a low heat until the onion is

soft and golden. Add the carrot, celery and whole potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Then turn up the heat to high and add the glass of wine. You want this to reduce to half its quantity, then reduce the heat.

Add the tomato puree, can of tomatoes, borlotti beans and basil (tear up the basil).

Add the stock and season with pepper and bring slowly to the boil. Cover and leave simmering for a couple of hours, giving an occasional stir.

Taste and season if necessary. Squash any potatoes that haven't broken up against the side of the pot with the wooden spoon. Now add the runner beans, cabbage, spinach, a handful of peas and the ditalini (see note).

Cook until al dente. If the soup is quite thick, you can cook the ditalini separately and add later to the soup.

Serve with a few shavings of parmesan, a drizzle of good olive oil and some crusty bread. It's even better the next day.

* A small, tubular pasta

This recipe is untested by taste. If you make it, let us know what you think. Email: theadvertiser@taste.com.au 

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