🍲 Italian Minestrone, with Chef-Approved Shortcuts

Plus, a "buy local" food guide

My eldest, blowing her Minestrone with a Crouton “Boat” // Photo: Allison Usavage

Ciao Amici!

Last week on Episode 01 of Dinner Last Night, Italian mother, chef, and cookbook author,

Giulia Scarpaleggia

had us craving Minestrone (recipe below).

Minestrone is a classic Italian vegetable soup: perfect in summer with fresh produce, but also great in winter with frozen veggies (a guilt-free hack Giulia swears by).

What we loved about Giulia’s version of Minestrone, is that she helps her 4-year-old daughter blend the soup with an immersion blender. Not only is her daughter excited to use a “grown-up tool,” she’s also more likely to eat the assortment of vegetables in the soup when they are blended together!

This is just one of the ways Giulia helps her daughter try new foods, and part of her refreshing approach to what American households often label as “picky” eating (🙋‍♀️).

Below, I’ve included my locally-inspired recipe for Three Sisters Minestrone with Crouton Boats from my book, Seasonal Family Almanac.

Feel free to blend the soup, Giulia-style, or add frozen vegetables—or both!

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Why Frozen Vegetables Are More Seasonal Than You Think

Giulia is passionate about eating seasonally, and told us it’s the #1 tradition she wishes to pass on to her daughter.

And believe it or not, frozen vegetables count.

Here’s why: Frozen veg are picked and preserved at peak ripeness, locking in flavor and nutrients. That sad, underripe tomato in December? It traveled far, ripened in transit, and likely tastes like... nothing (or very little).

So if you’re craving strawberries in winter or squash in July—go frozen.

Better yet, make a big batch of seasonal meals now (like Minestrone!) and freeze a few jars. Giulia calls this “micro-canning”—preserving just a little at a time. I tried it with strawberry jam in June, and it was a breeze!

And of course, nothing outshines fresh, seasonal produce (think a summer caprese salad).

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Why Eating Local Is More Important Than Ever

During our conversation, Giulia said:

“If you go to a supermarket, you find everything now. Traditions are changing.”

This is why it’s even more important to Giulia that she passes on the wisdom of eating seasonally to her daughter, something I resonate with as a chef and parent.

Not only does eating seasonally optimize our health, but it connects us to the place and people where we live, and supports our local communities and environment.

Unfortunately, fresh, local food is increasingly unavailable to large populations, primarily in marginalized urban neighborhoods.

But there are small steps we can all take to making change, and one of them is using our spending power to shift the demand towards local food.

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Want to eat more local food? Start here:

🍅 LocalHarvest.org – Directory for markets, CSAs, farm stands, and U-pick farms.
🌽 USDA Farmers Market Directory – Filter by location, season, SNAP access & more.
🥕 EatWellGuide.org – A curated guide to local, sustainable food businesses.
🧑‍🌾 Facebook Groups & Co-ops – Look for regional food groups and pop-up markets in your area.

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We hope you get a chance to listen to the full episode, on Apple or wherever you get podcasts:

And stay tuned for an amazing conversation on Episode 02 of Dinner Last Night—next Sunday!!!

♡ Buon appetito,

Emma (and Dimity)

P.S. Don’t forget to enter to win a copy of Giulia’s cookbook and a paid subscription to her newsletter (details in this email).

THREE SISTERS MINESTRONE WITH CROUTON BOATS

Recipe from Seasonal Family Almanac: Recipes, Rituals, and Crafts for Celebrating the Magic of the Year.

Creating recipes takes time, love, and resources—and many of the recipes I share appear in my cookbooks. To support this work, full recipe access is reserved for paid subscribers. Your subscription gives you access to all new recipes, my Recipe Archive, and the Monthly Meal Plan Index—and helps keep this newsletter going.