There's no such thing as the perfect minestrone soup.

That's because minestrone is more of a genre than it is a specific recipe. In fact, the word minestrone literally means “big soup,” specifically one made by cooking mixed vegetables in salted water. Because Italians are seasonal, regional and sometimes opinionated cooks, minestrone’s very nature links it invariably to three changing things: time of year, geography and the hand of the cook. Explore the different paths of this versatile soup until you find the one you want to walk along.