Milanese Vegetable Soup

A one-pan minestrone in miniature, written for cooks who were expected to know what "all kinds of vegetables" meant. The proportions are loose by design; the quart of stock is the only fixed anchor.

• Vegetables, quantityAim for about 4 to 5 cups of diced vegetables for the quart of stock — onion, carrot, celery, leek, cabbage, green beans, zucchini, a handful of shelled beans. Cut them to a uniform 1/4 inch so they finish together in the half hour.
• The frying step is the flavourSweating the bacon and ham with the butter, then the vegetables, before any liquid goes in is what separates this from boiled vegetable water. Give it 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat until the onion is translucent and the pan smells sweet, not a literal "few minutes."
• Bacon and hamPeriod bacon and cooked ham were often saltier than modern supermarket versions. Use about 2 oz of each, diced small, and salt the soup only at the end. Pancetta and prosciutto scraps are close equivalents.
• Tomato-sauceIn a kitchen of this period "tomato-sauce" generally meant a cooked, sieved tomato sauce, often thickened with roux or by reduction, rather than a seasoned pasta sauce. Passata or plain canned crushed tomatoes reduced slightly gives the right effect; one cup into a quart of stock is a substantial addition, so taste before adding more.
• RiceAdding it already boiled looks deliberate: pre-cooked rice keeps it from drinking the broth. About 1 cup cooked. If you cook raw rice in the pot instead, add another cup of stock.
• "Cook until done"After the tomato goes in, 5 to 10 minutes is enough to marry things. Longer and the vegetables collapse and the rice turns to paste.
• YieldA quart of stock plus the vegetables, rice and tomato sauce comes closer to 2 quarts — six to eight small first-course servings, or three or four as a meal with bread and grated Parmesan.