1 1/2 quarts of water
1 lb. French beans, or two cups shelled peas
4 potatoes -- medium size
1/2 lb. tomatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, or if this is unobtainable
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 teaspoonful tomato paste
Grated Parmesan
1/4 lb. vermicelli

"Heat water to boiling point and add beans cut in pieces, or peas, together with the potatoes cut small and the tomatoes and seasoning. Cook together until vegetables are tender -- about 25 minutes -- then add the vermicelli and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the pasta is 'al dente'. Mix together the crushed garlic, basil or parsley and tomato paste with a spoonful or two of the soup to make a smooth paste, and mix with the balance of the soup, stirring well to ensure that it is well blended. Serve with plenty of grated Parmesan."

This recipe was taken from "Italian Cooking" by Dorothy Daly. It was published by Spring Books in Great Britain. For the complete copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org.... P.S. Having cooked many a minestrone soup in my long life (though not this particular one), I gather from looking at the ingredients used in this recipe, that it would probably be very good. Personally I would use a light chicken stock over plain old water, but that, of course, would make the soup less authentic. At the beginning of the 20th century few, if any soups, made use of meat stock -- the cost would have been prohibitive. Actually, many first-generation Italian-Canadians to this day don't use chicken-based stock when they make minestrone, not obviously because of the cost (store-bought chicken stock is cheap these days) but because that's how the soup was made when they were growing up; also, the taste of the vegetables used in the soup is a bit more pronounced when chicken stock is avoided.... Photo and notes: Mary Melfi.

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