A Pan of Minestrone
Minestrone soup with a twist….
Last night saw a wine presentation given by an Italian wine maker with food pairings by yours truly. There were some wonderful wines on offer and my favourite red was paired with a simple minestrone of oxtails….
Oxtail Minestrone
I love minestrone and I equally love oxtails so why not put the two together? The oxtails were slowly cooked in a well flavoured broth of chunky vegetables, a little tomato paste and a great big bouquet garni of sage, bay, rosemary and thyme until the meat was very tender. In a seperate pan of warmed olive oil went a load of diced vegetables; leeks, onions, carrots, celery, greens and garlic. As this began to soften I added tomato paste, seasoning and freshly chopped basil, tarragon and oregano. Next went in some cooked white beans and another bouquet garni before covering it all with the hot oxtail stock.
This was left to simmer for fifteen minutes before being laddled into bowls with a blob of bright green basil pesto, a glug of extra virgin olive oil for good measure and a sprinkle of grated parmesan.
The Italian said it was “belissimo” so that’ll do for me.
Chef,
you can almost ’see’ the flavour in that.
Cheers
Rod
June 27, 2009 @ 8:00 am
Rod,
Thanks! Pretty pleased with the result to be honest.
Miles
June 27, 2009 @ 8:44 am
Miles,
That looks like a sublime soup…. a meaty, manly broth fit for a king, not to mention girly girls
Note to self…. must cook with oxtail more often.
I have days when I could eat a pine nut pesto by the spoonful on it’s own, such are it’s seductive qualities. Apart from this show stopping soup, it’s excellent on my homemade pasta. Confession time….. I have splashed out on an Italian designer pasta drying rack. I did of course feel guilty for the first few minutes, until I actually tried it out this week, but I can assure everyone that the pasta dried more effectively and slid off the rails much more easily than it did off my wooden spoon and cornflake box contraption
Cid
June 27, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
Miles,
.
I must echo Rod’s comment. Somehow that soup looks like just cooked and ready for eating-by me
I must admit not having cooked oxtail before. Is there another cut of meat that would particularly suit this dish?
I should love to have been at that wine tasting. It sounds better than the bread and sausage ones in Germany!
Anne
June 27, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
Cid,
Bright green and cheesey, the best kind of pesto. Your pasta rack sounds great, about time we had a pasta recipe from you.
Miles
June 27, 2009 @ 10:52 pm
Anne,
I’d stick with beef but you could use a shank of lamb. Oxtails are cheaper and the flavour is sublime.
Miles
June 27, 2009 @ 10:53 pm
Miles,
Absolutely superb. I’m with the masses, that looks bursting with flavour. I do love the way that you pack in flavour at each and every stage of the process. It’s rather inspiring. Top notch!
GDave
June 27, 2009 @ 11:19 pm
GDave,
Cheers mate, it’s really important to think about flavour when you’re making a soup like this. I tell my chefs that they have got to get inside it to be able to make it properly. Well, I tell them…
Miles
June 27, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
Miles,
I agree — this looks wonderful and I’m paying close attention to your seasoning instructions. I just took an herb class today at our local Botanic Gardens and can almost smell the richness of your soup. I agree with Cid, this with a nice glass of red wine does sound sublime.
Welcome back Anne!
And Cid, I just made garlic scape and pine nut pesto. Wish I had some of your handcrafted pasta (amaranth, maybe) to go with it.
:-)
Great post, Miles.
Melissa
June 28, 2009 @ 3:46 am
Melissa,
You’re getting into your herbs aren’t you. A friend of mine has written a book on the medicinal properties of herbs which she is hoping to get published in the States, so do I because I provided the photographs! It’s a great book and shows how important herbs are to us.
Miles
June 28, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Miles,
Pasta recipe, no problem and although my photographic capabilities are severely limited, I might include a shot of my latest kitchen crush
Cid
June 28, 2009 @ 10:32 am
Miles,
Yes, I’ve always used herbs and spices in my cooking, but rather haphazardly. I don’t know the nuances of what goes with what. Seriously, I have cut and pasted many of your comments or pieces of your posts into one “instructional” herb chart that is taped onto the inside of my cabinet door. I love blogging for this reason — there is no way I’d pick up the phone and call a top chef and start randomly asking him/her flavoring questions, but with this wonderful community of friends, I’m not hesitant to ask.
Thank you, Miles and gang! I appreciate being allowed into the circle and have learned so much from you.
When will the book come out? I’d love to purchase a copy. What about Amazon.com UK? The workshop I went to yesterday was on medicinal and culinary herbs, how to grow, harvest and use them. I also went to a composting class and a container garden class. It was a great day.
Can’t wait to see the new “crush” Cid. You’ve got me wondering.
:-)
Melissa
June 28, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
Cid,
Sounds intriguing! Look forward to it.
Miles
June 28, 2009 @ 4:59 pm
Melissa,
It was due for release last year through Ball Publishing but they pulled the plug on that division of the business two weeks before release. She is now searching for a publisher.
Miles
June 28, 2009 @ 5:01 pm