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Menestrón
Beef, bean and pasta soup
Menestrón: Peru's thick beef and vegetable soup with pasta, beans and a green basil purée
PeruvianThink of the Italian minestrone after a century of Lima kitchens: menestrón is thicker, heartier and greener, a weekday soup that families and menú restaurants make in huge pots. Beef shin simmers into a rich broth with potatoes, squash, corn, cabbage, green beans and white beans, then short pasta goes in, and finally a purée of basil, spinach, garlic and fresh cheese turns the whole pot pale green and fragrant. It is a meal in a bowl, best with bread and a squeeze of lime or a spoon of ají. People tend to add the basil purée too early; boiled, it loses its colour and its scent, so stir it in off the heat. Chef's tip: for a vegetarian menestrón, skip the beef and use vegetable stock, with a cheese made with microbial (vegetarian) rennet.
- Total time
- 100 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the soup
- 1 ⅛ lb beef shincut into 3 cm pieces
- 10 ½ cups water
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 onionchopped
- 2 carrotsdiced
- 2 celery stickssliced
- 14 oz potatoespeeled, cut into chunks
- 10 ½ oz squash or pumpkinpeeled, cut into chunks
- 2 corn cobscut into 3 cm rounds
- 3 ½ oz green beanscut into 3 cm lengths
- 7 oz white cabbageshredded
- 8 ½ oz cooked white beansdrained (one 400 g tin)
- 3 ½ oz short pastasuch as macaroni
For the basil purée
- 1 ¾ oz fresh basil leaves
- 1 ¾ oz baby spinach
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 ⅞ oz queso frescoor a mild feta-style cheese
To serve
- 6 lime wedges (optional)
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Method
0/6 doneStep 2: Add 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, 14 oz potatoes, 10 ½ oz squash or pumpkin and 2 corn cobs and simmer until the potatoes are nearly tender.
15 minStep 3: Add 3 ½ oz green beans, 7 oz white cabbage, 8 ½ oz cooked white beans and 3 ½ oz short pasta and simmer, stirring so the pasta doesn't stick, until the pasta is soft and some squash has melted into the broth.
12 minStep 4: Blend 1 ¾ oz fresh basil leaves, 1 ¾ oz baby spinach, 2 garlic cloves, 3 tbsp vegetable oil and 2 ⅞ oz queso fresco with a ladle of the hot broth until smooth and bright green.
Step 5: Take the pot off the heat and stir in the purée until the soup turns evenly green. Check the salt.
1 minStep 6: Serve in deep bowls with 6 lime wedges on the side.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 430 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 46 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 9 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does menestrón take?
- About 100 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 80 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of carrots?
- Parsnip or sweet potato, same weight.
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