I have had the Art of Simple Food for almost three years, but I rarely use the book because I think the recipes, particularly for baked goods, can be a little complicated (so yes, not actually that "simple"). I realize that Waters probably uses proper techniques that yield unfailingly high-quality dishes, but I have to admit that I prefer shortcuts whenever possible.
As part of what I think I can now call my long-standing effort to use more of my cookbooks though, I decided to give the Art of Simple Food another try last week. I ended up settling on the minestrone recipe because it felt like I hadn't made a good soup in some time. I didn't really read the recipe directions before I purchased the ingredients, so I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the recipe was to make — perhaps the best thing about the recipe was that it required very little hands-on time, and required only water instead of my remaining precious homemade vegetarian broth. The recipe also appears to be incredibly adaptable to different vegetables, so I think it will be the perfect summer CSA/farmer's market soup.
Be warned that this soup goes fast! I ate all of the 6 soup servings or so that I made within a week (though my soup did not include beans or pasta, so admittedly was lighter than the original recipe). I think the key ingredient that makes the soup truly mouthwatering is the thyme sprigs added early in the cooking process. My modifications to the recipe follow the picture below.
Minestrone Modifications
- Used only one large carrot, one medium onion, one zucchini, three sprigs of thyme, 1 cup spinach, and probably used only 1/2 – 3/4 of the green beans.
- I halved the amount of olive oil used to cook the carrot and onion.
- I removed the dark green parts of the leek, and only partially peeled the two tomatoes.
- I omitted the cannellini beans, and consequently the 1 cup of "bean liquid." I used 3 cups of water in the recipe.
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