Minestra Maritata

When I growing up my mom use to make a large pan of Minestra. We would eat Minestra for at least 3 nights in a row, it was one of my Dad's favorites. Sunday I made a large pan of Minestra. We will be eating this for dinner for at least 2 nights, I will freeze the rest.

I love this recipe. It is the closest to my mom's recipe that I have found. For meat I purchased a Prosciutto end at the deli, some sweet chicken sausage, hot pork sausage, salami, mortadella, chicken legs and chicken thighs. I added some Parmesan rinds that I had in the freezer. The recipe is from Cooking with Guiseppe. The result was a delicious bowl of the perfect soup for a cold January night.

Minestra Maritata

Or as I like to call it - the stuff that dreams are made of!
This is the food that I grew up on. Minestra Maritata, Pasta Fagioli, Baked Macaroni, Chicken Cutlets. Nothing was processed. My big treat was a TV dinner once in a while. Morton's Fried Chicken Dinner, with the mashed potatoes and peas and carrots! Wow I loved that.

I guess I was very lucky to have a mom who made sure she knew exactly what we were eating. And she was frugal. When we had Minstra or Pasta Fagioli we had it for a number of nights. Which we will be doing this week!

I used the recipe from Cooking with Giuseppe, who cooks just like my mom did. This recipe results in what is the closest to my mom's minestra that I have found. I used escarole and kale and a beef shank, sausage and prosciutto ends. And I also added cannelini beans.

And of course always afraid it might not be enough I made a stuffed bread. Stuffed with Steak, onion and cheese... Kind of a Philly Cheese Bread, hold the peppers!

Minestra Maritata

About a week ago I was checking out food blogs and I stopped in my tracks. There was a photo of a bowl of Minestra that looked exactly like what my mom use to make. I was very happy because I did not have a copy of her recipe.
I used a beef shank, pork spare ribs and a nice end piece of prosciutto. The greens were escarole and swiss chard. It tasted just like my mom's.
I am so glad I found this recipe on Cooking with Giuseppe. And I was glad I could share with Chris a dish that I grew up eating.