minestrone/pasta e fagioli

two days ago, i slightly adapted a minestrone/pasta e fagioli from mark bittman's awesome 'how to cook everything vegetarian.'

i began with with chopped onion, carrot, and celery. you will notice that the celery is in large blocks so that i can remove it later, because, as we all know, celery is evil.

after a bit of cooking, i added a bit of potato, parsnip, and turnip.

plus some awesome hard cheese rind. yes, it is locatelli, because i have italian blood in me and therefore i am a snob about such things.

and, finally, two cans of chopped tomatoes and about seven cups of broth.

after this cooked a while, i decided it was rather unsophisticated, and needed the help of my trusting sidekick, the immersion blender.

oooh, smooth!

then came some zucchini (which i would leave out next time, as the final texture didn't seem right), and some green beans. plus full cup of ditalini pasta and a can of beans. the kale went in a few minutes before serving.

so did the minced garlic.

this was good - leftovers were better. must make again.