The Art of Simple Food

The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters, copyright 2006

Winter Minestrone with Turnips, Potatoes and Cabbage, page 73

Prepared January 7, 2008

This could have been unfair. The Art of Simple Food is a lovely cookbook. It's organized in two sections: Part One provides you with master recipes and tips (and a lot of recipes), Part Two is called "At the Table" and gives you even more recipes. It's a lovely cookbook and I can't wait to really in to it, especially this summer.

Alice Waters lives in California. She has ready access to farmers with four growing seasons and can get gorgeous produce all the time. With that in mind, I thought I would try one of her "winter" recipes. I decided on the Winter Minestrone. I could have picked the Fall version too as I have good access to kale and butternut squash.

This soup was really good. Really. A soup of turnips and cabbage. You might also assume that the kitchen would stink after this. A soup of turnips and cabbage. One trick to stink-free cabbage and turnip cooking: cook these vegetables in uncovered pots. For some reason, covering the pot makes 'em stink right up. Cover off: no such problem.

You make a soffrito of celery, carrots and onions. Then you add in garlic, thyme, chopped turnips and potato and water (I did use some vegetable stock because I had it on hand). When the turnips and potatoes are softened, add in cooked white beans and cooked cabbage. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and drizzled with olive oil.

If Waters can make this rather pedestrian sounding list of ingredients into a soup this good, I can't wait to see her in action with a ripe eggplant or a bag of tomatoes.

By the way, this was my turnip. It was huge (weighed 1.25 pounds) and dipped in wax to preserve it. I actually think it may have been a rutabaga (it was pale orange inside). Either way, it was delicious. Despite its size and stodginess, it cooked up sweet and tender.