A cheesy soup trick

Try this soup for a nourishing weeknight meal. It takes inspiration from an Italian minestrone soup, with a tomato-based stock and a wedge of a hard cheese rind. Yes, that’s right: A chunk of a hard Italian cheese rind is a great trick to boost flavor and depth in your soup stock. It’s also an efficient no-waste use for any dwindling pieces of Parmigiano-Reggiano and pecorino Romano cheese stashed in your fridge. These pieces are flavor bombs, imparting salty, piquant, umami goodness into your soup. When a hunk is added to the stock, the rind softens and begins to break down, infusing its essence into the broth, deepening its flavor and slightly thickening the soup while it simmers.