Stanley Tucci Eats This One-Pot Italian Soup in the Summer—and We Can See Why

Basically, whenever Stanley Tucci releases a new recipe, which is pretty often if you follow him on all social platforms, I drop what I’m doing to watch it. Sure, it’s part of my job, but no one told me to set a notification to notify me whenever the Tucc posts on Instagram—and, truthfully, most of the time, I log on to Instagram straight away just because I love him and his quirky videos.

We know Tucci is the king of Italian cooking, but he typically posts his recipes for easy pasta casseroles or sauces using leftover ingredients. So, this new recipe was kind of surprising—mainly because we’re in the middle of a heat wave.

Most recently, Tucci shared his recipe for string bean minestra (the Italian word for soup)—yes, that’s right, a hot soup in July. Personally, I think any season could be soup season if you’re really craving it, but heating up my kitchen on an 80-degree day is not something I’d normally do. However, for the Tucc, I’ll try it. Especially because it’s his grandmother’s recipe, so I already knew it was going to be good.

“It’s this incredibly easy thing that my grandmother and my mother always made, and now I make,” he said. “You don’t sauté anything, you don’t do anything like that. It’s a very light, light soup, but absolutely delicious.”

In standard Stanley Tucci fashion, no measurements are given—he quite literally says “a splotch of marinara,” whatever amount that means—so I took to the kitchen to give the soup a try and create a recipe for you. And let’s just say it’s worth sweating over your stove for.

How To Make Stanley Tucci's String Bean Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ white onion, diced
• 1 zucchini, roughly chopped
• 3 potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 6 ounces string beans, halved
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• ⅓ cup marinara sauce
• ¼ cup water
• Salt, to taste

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and tomatoes have cooked down. Add more water, if needed, to reach desired consistency.
   

I Tried Stanley Tucci's String Bean Minestra

If there’s one thing I love, it’s a recipe where I can just throw everything into a pot and not have to worry about it. There was no rhyme or reason to how I chopped the veggies; I just made sure they were bite-sized while taking into account that they would shrink as they softened. 

At first, it doesn’t seem like a lot of liquid in the pot, but the tomatoes do add some extra “broth.” However, I might need to add some more water or marinara sauce for my leftovers—a “splotch” more, if you will. (For extra authenticity, make it in Tucci's Greenpan cookware!)

This is one of the easiest soups I’ve ever made, and even though it is hot outside, it has so many great summer veggies in it that I would consider it a summer soup. Though, I’m sure I’ll be making it in every season from here on out.