Last night I made some minnestrone from an Italian cookbook I have. It had onion, celery, carrot, green beans, potato, tomato, zucchini, and cabbage in it. The author stressed that you should sautee the onion first, then add each next vegetable in a specific order and sautee it for a few minutes before adding the next veggie. I can understand the idea of sauteeing the onions first. I can understand the idea of sauteeing all the veggies before adding any liquid. But, I cannot comprehend why I need to do it in any particular order when after the liquid is added, the soup simmers for 3 hours! I'd bet $$$ that it makes absolutely no difference in the final product if I sauteed the onion and then added all the other vegetables to sautee and then added the broth. It just doesn't make sense to me. Is there any factual reason that the ingredients should be added in a specific order or is this just a carryover from techniques passed down? It certainly seems like the latter.
Drew
Drew