Join Martha Stewart as she shares her ultimate minestrone soup, fresh salad, and homemade breadsticks recipes—the perfect cozy meal! Packed with hearty vegetables, and rich flavors, this classic Italian-inspired feast is simple, easy to make, and absolutely delicious.
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00:00This is a classic minestrone. It's a beloved Italian soup that's hearty and healthy.
00:05Minestras generally means bigness, and this is big because it has so many ingredients.
00:12And they can vary. It includes lots of vegetables, leafy greens, and beans.
00:17The foundation of flavor in a minestrone soup is something called a soffritto.
00:24It's a common element in Italian soup making, and it consists of a trio of celery, carrots,
00:28and onion. And we'll get to the soffritto, but let's do the beans first, because this is what
00:34you have to do the day before you make your soup. You need three quarters of a cup of cannellini
00:41beans, and they're really white Italian kidney beans, dried. They're plump and they're creamy,
00:47tender beans when they are reconstituted with moisture, and they soak up lots of flavors
00:54in which they're cooked. So cover this with water, water to cover like this, and just
01:04let them sit out overnight, eight to twelve hours, and they plump up to look like this.
01:10Look at the difference. Big difference. They more than double in size. And so now
01:17these are ready to cook. Strain these. This water can be discarded.
01:24And get this right into a deep pot with a half of an onion. Take the outer skin off the onion,
01:36and you can cut this into just three or four chunks. One bay leaf. No salt. Salt tends to toughen
01:50the beans. And eight cups of water. If you're a vegetarian, stop here. But if you're not a
02:01vegetarian, ask your butcher for the end of a prosciutto. This has skin, fat, and a little bit
02:09of the prosciutto meat. And cut this into two or three pieces, and add this to your water.
02:18So now bring this to a boil, and reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for approximately 30 to 45
02:24minutes until the beans are to your taste. Al dente for some, and well cooked for others.
02:32Now the beans have cooked. They're tender, even plumper than they were after the soaking.
02:40They're even cracking a little bit to indicate the nice creamy interior. I'm letting those cool
02:45a tiny bit while I start the sofrito. Third of a cup of olive oil. One stalk of celery cut up
02:55into very fine dice. One onion cut up into very fine dice. And one carrot. This is the holy
03:05trinity of Italy. And if it had green pepper instead of carrot, it would be the Louisiana
03:11version of sofrito. So stir this until everything becomes translucent. This will take about 25 to 30
03:23minutes. And now we can strain the beans. I have a strainer set over a measuring cup.
03:34You're going to pick out the ham and the onion, leaving the beans themselves.
03:42So there. Let these cool a little bit. Beans are ready. So after 25 minutes the sofrito looks like
03:51this. It has a nice golden deep brown color. And we add one medium leek. Green and white parts
04:01to this mix. Now some garlic. Three cloves of garlic. And this should take about four minutes.
04:12Now add your carrots. Two carrots thinly sliced on the diagonal. Coat with that flavoring and the oil.
04:22Two ribs of celery. Again, celery and carrots were in the sofrito.
04:29But now you'll have visible pieces. One large red potato.
04:35Zucchini. One medium zucchini sliced thinly and quartered. And lastly, the string beans.
04:44One quarter of a pound of beautiful fresh green beans. Smells very good. Okay, so this is getting
04:51ready. Now your other ingredients. One 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes. The San Marzanos are very
05:00excellent. A quarter of a head of Savoy cabbage. That's the nice crinkly cabbage. It's been
05:07chiffonaded finely. This adds a very nice texture to your minestrone. And then, oh, this is something.
05:14I don't know if you've seen it in the grocery store. It's cavolo nero, which is the Italian
05:19black kale. Very tasty and so good for you. So full of iron and other fantastic vitamins and
05:28minerals. So you need one bunch, about five ounces of that. And four cups of vegetable stock.
05:35And about four cups of the bean cooking water. And it's very nice to have all your ingredients
05:42ready before you really start doing this part of the soup. Okay, we're going to add our tomatoes.
05:49Now the tomatoes, you just crush with a spoon, with your fingers, and add the juice.
06:01You hear the cooking stop. Raise the heat a little bit.
06:05So now it's starting to look like minestrone. And now the cabbage. I love cabbage cooked in anything.
06:14I love cabbage cooked in anything. That must be my Polish heritage.
06:21Very pretty. And then the kale, which I also love now. This is a fantastic kale.
06:30And now you can add also four cups of vegetable stock.
06:38If you happen to have it, and you should save rinds of parmesan cheese in your freezer,
06:43so you can add that to the soup. A chunk of prosciutto, like a four ounce end.
06:51And a bay leaf. Some red hot pepper flakes. Start with a quarter of a teaspoon.
06:59You may find that you like more, but a quarter of a teaspoon really adds a lot of flavor to the soup.
07:06And four cups of the bean liquid. So here we have six cups. I will pour in four.
07:18There. A little bit of salt.
07:24And a little bit of black pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer.
07:32Cover and cook for one hour.
07:37So after one hour, add your beans, the cooked beans, right into the soup.
07:42These have to now cook for another 20 minutes. And your minestrone will be ready to serve.
07:50Cover. And we have one that's all done, finally. And let's show you what it looks like served.
08:01Put a nice big serving right there. And then some of the broth. Crusty toasted Italian bread.
08:13A little spoon of homemade basil pesto right on top.
08:19Parmesan cheese. Let that cheese just melt into the hot soup.
08:26Nothing is better than a good homemade vinaigrette. Now, vinaigrettes are infinitely
08:30variable. You can experiment with different oils, such as grapeseed oil, olive oil, canola oil,
08:37hazelnut oil, walnut oil. You can also experiment with different kinds of acids,
08:44champagne vinegar, sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, one of my favorites, red wine vinegar,
08:50and even white or red balsamic vinegar. You can also add cheeses and spices and herbs, anchovies.
08:57But for such a simple preparation, it's vital to use the very, very best ingredients,
09:02because there are only five or six ingredients, including salt and pepper, in a vinaigrette.
09:07You start first with the acid. And I like to put the acid right in either a salad bowl like this,
09:15if I'm going to be tossing a salad, or in a jar like this with a tight-fitting cap so you can
09:21shake it. This is the way I generally make a vinaigrette at home. I think I'll make a champagne
09:27vinegar vinaigrette today. And in your pantry, you should have a variety of good oils and a variety
09:35of good vinegars. So basically start with a tablespoon or two of the acid. And I'm going to
09:42start with two tablespoons of white champagne vinegar. And into the vinegar, I put a half a
09:50teaspoon of salt. And I like to mix that together. I like the salt to be dissolved. I remember when
09:57I was in France, the first time I ever went to France, and the waiter mixed the vinaigrette right
10:03at the table using two spoons like this, and mixing the salt in the spoon, and then putting
10:08it in the bowl. I've never forgotten that. So I always try to mix the salt into the acid.
10:16And now, this is going to be a vinaigrette to dress a lettuce salad. So I like to add a little
10:22bit of Dijon mustard. Dijon adds a very nice flavor. And about a half a tablespoon of Dijon
10:29mustard. Keep both grainy and smooth Dijon mustard on hand in the refrigerator. A very
10:37versatile addition to a lot of different dishes that you make in your kitchen.
10:43And some black pepper. I'd say, oh, about a quarter of a teaspoon, freshly ground black
10:49pepper. And because this is going to address greens that just were picked out of my garden,
10:56add one shallot that's been very finely minced. Shallot is a member of the onion family. It has a
11:03very nice mild taste. It'll add crunch and additional flavor to the vinaigrette.
11:09So basically, that's the acid into which we will add oil. This one is just going to be a
11:16plain olive oil vinaigrette. Now, this is where the emulsification takes place.
11:21And the general proportions, three parts oil, one part acid. So just start drizzling,
11:28and you're going to see this vinegar in the bowl become emulsified in the oil. Now,
11:34you have to do this in a steady stream, just droplet by droplet, and whisk vigorously
11:40until you see a visible thickening take place. And if you measured this, you would see that we
11:48used two tablespoons of vinegar, and we're going to use approximately six tablespoons of oil.
11:55Three to one. Oh, see? It's already becoming thick and creamy, and it smells really good.
12:05It's important to add this in steady, slow stream. If you dumped it all in at once,
12:10it would take a lot longer to emulsify. But you see, you don't see any separation occurring here.
12:16It is really creamy and beautiful. Little tiny bit more. And really and truly, this is a very
12:25smart way to do it, because if you do it in the salad bowl in which you're going to make your
12:29salad, you haven't made too much dressing, you don't have leftover, and you can toss your salad
12:34right here, and you use up every single bit of the expensive oil and the expensive vinegar that you
12:39have invested in to make a great vinaigrette. So there it is. Vinaigrette. Simple vinaigrette. Now,
12:45the jar method, very similar in terms of ingredients, but I'll just vary it a little bit.
12:53I think I'll do a rice wine vinaigrette. Again, measure your ingredients. I'll do three
13:00tablespoons of rice wine vinegar. That means how many tablespoons of oil? Nine. Salt. A little bit
13:09more salt this time. And rice wine vinegar has a kind of a little bit of a sweetness to it,
13:15and I enhance the sweetness with just a pinch of sugar. I think it tastes really good. Black pepper.
13:24And we'll do a grapeseed oil. Very nice, almost flavorless oil, but it really mixes
13:31nicely with the rice wine vinaigrette. We're going to measure nine tablespoons.
13:44Nine tablespoons of grapeseed oil. And I'm going to put a little bit of mustard.
13:53And shake.
13:59So this looks very nice. Of course, tastes
14:06very good. Very nice, light vinaigrette. You can add fresh coriander to this, chopped. You could
14:14do chives. You could add shallots to this one if you like. But this will be very nice over butter
14:20lettuce or any very delicate greens like mesclun salad. Now, both of these could be done in a
14:27blender, which would last longer than those made with a whisk or a jar. And if you look at this,
14:33you don't see any separation at all. It's still very nicely emulsified. So there it is. Lesson
14:40number one, vinaigrette. Very easy to make. No need to go out and buy jarred salad dressings
14:47when you can make vinaigrettes so very easily. And your salad. If you've washed your salad very,
14:54very well and spun it dry, make sure it is really dry because dry salad greens and cold and crispy
15:03are essential when making a good salad. I wash mine very well in this deep water in the sink.
15:13I make sure that every leaf is pristine. And I just put all the salad in a bowl lined with a
15:22flour sack towel like this. Put it like this in the refrigerator to chill until dinner time. You
15:29can also cover it with a piece of plastic wrap to prevent any wilting whatsoever. And then put it
15:34right on top of the dressing like this. If the salad is wet, it will not take the dressing.
15:44If the leaves are too big, tear. And the quickest way to ruin a good salad is to add too much
15:54dressing or dressing it way too long before serving. Salads are best tossed right before
16:02serving. Light, nice tossing like this. Remember, you can always add more dressing, but you can't
16:10take the dressing away. So here is a lovely salad piled high on a plate. Serve it with a piece of
16:20crusty herb toast. And you know, guess we'll come back for more. This is a really great salad and a
16:29great vinaigrette. We're going to do the grissinis because you wanted to make those. Yes, I do. And
16:34tell us what grissinis are. Grissini is basically a breadstick from the Turin in Turin, Italy. That's
16:41where they were dated back to. And these are hand-stretched. They're not machine-made. You know,
16:46some pasta is forced out through a machine. Right. Those really perfect breadsticks you see in
16:50restaurants, those are forced through. Extruded. Right. Yeah. And then these are all hand-stretched
16:54and they can't, no two look alike. They're very beautiful. And so tasty. And if you have those on
17:00your table, no matter what you're serving, everybody's going to start munching on those.
17:03They're great with cocktails, too. Absolutely. So should I start proofing the yeast? Yes, always
17:08proof our yeast. So one and three quarters teaspoon of active dry yeast and a quarter cup of warm
17:13water, not hot. Right. And then we have three and three quarter cups of flour here and a little bit
17:20of honey, which, you know, yeast loves, a little sugar. One and a half tablespoons of
17:27extra virgin olive oil. Two and a half teaspoons of salt. And I love your use of salt. I love,
17:34John has a really unique way of using salt and you use it in ice cream. Pretty much everywhere. Yeah.
17:40Ice cream, every place. And then this is one and a quarter cups of water. Now, the only thing that
17:45I try to hold back is just a little bit of the water because you never know if the flour is going
17:49to absorb it all. Right. So we make a well. But now what kind of flour are you using? This is an
17:54unbleached, unbromated King Arthur flour. And we pour it right down. I remember when you went up
18:00to King Arthur to the to the baking school. Yeah, several times. And yeah. And John has been so
18:05avid in his in continuing to educate himself to new techniques, to new everything. And I love that
18:11about you, too. So. Oh, so what are you doing? Well, you're going to need with that. Yep. This
18:15is what when I was in Italy, we learned this recipe in Bologna. We did it right on the board.
18:21One bad thing about that is, you know, you create that. Well, yeah, it's a mess. So here's in the
18:25east. No, that was proof. We had one. Oh, you had to prove it. OK. So we're just going to bring it
18:30all together to a fine mess. It's a nice, soft, supple. Did you say a fine mess? Mess. OK. OK.
18:38So then this just comes together and then it's I think you're going to need the extra water.
18:43No, I'm not going to need the extra water. But what I wanted to show you. Can I do this? Yes,
18:47absolutely. You ruined it. I wanted to pop it. I love popping that. It's such a fun thing to do.
18:54OK, so the way that we get this texture, which is semolina flour, we just heavily put it on the board
19:02and you can hand that dough to me. It kind of pours out. Oh, so beautifully. So you olive
19:07oil the bowl. Exactly. And what that olive oil is going to do now is help us
19:14to get that semolina. Now, this is the fun part. I mean, you just kind of stretch it.
19:18That adds a crunchiness to the breadsticks. Exactly. Oh, yeah. But also prevents it from
19:22sticking to your silpat. This makes how many? This is going to make about four dozen.
19:29See, not too much dough and four dozen. There's so many ways of doing these. You can roll them
19:36or you can stretch them just like this. You can see how easily they come. Oh, yeah. Well,
19:41the dough is so nice and wet and soft. Exactly. But that's exactly how I was taught to make it.
19:46Oh, yeah. Banging them. Right. Yeah, that's how I was taught by you. And then.
19:52And so now you have one hundred and fifty recipes. That's going to be too big
19:56in the book. You can make these almost the full size. How do you divide those
20:00recipes? Chapters, you know, just like your books. We do cookies. We do tarts. We do
20:06layer cakes. And you love layer cakes. I love layer cakes. Yeah. And the coconut one. You make
20:11chocolate. Beautiful, beautiful. The Windsor squares. Oh, yeah. If it breaks, just forget it.
20:16No, not at all. Absolutely. We don't waste anything. What's what are the standout recipes,
20:22would you say? Coconut cake. I love the chocolate layer cake. I love the the raspberries. Windsor
20:27squares pretty much. I don't know. It's my books. I think we're out of space on that one. Yeah,
20:35so anyway, so these are going to go into a three hundred and twenty five degree oven. Let them rise
20:39again. Yes. Oh, cover them a little. You know, they can stay out like this. You can cover them.
20:43Let them puff up a little. Then you bake them at three twenty five, twelve to fifteen minutes. And
20:47this is what you get. Yeah. And now if they ever become soggy again, it's like a biscotti cookie
20:52where you can just put them back in the oven and let them dry out again. Right. So we have black
20:56pepper. We have rosemary. We have tomato, sun dried tomato. Good. And you can do sage. You can
21:03do you can do any early. You can even do cheeses if you want to add some Parmesan cheese.