What: Minestrone soup
Where: Norma’s Italian Kitchen of Rancho Mirage, 42418 Bob Hope Drive, Rancho Mirage
How much: $6.50 cup; $7.95 bowl; available with $14.95 lunch special
Contact: 760-834-8738; www.normasitaliankitchen.com
Why: It’s hearty and fresh.
Is there a more perfect winter food than minestrone soup? Maybe—but I can’t think of one.
This thought rattled around my head as I enjoyed lunch with my colleague Kevin on the lovely patio at Norma’s Italian Kitchen of Rancho Mirage. Even though Norma’s has been in business since 2015, I’d never been there before—and I’ve been missing out.
We both took advantage of Norma’s fantastic lunch special: From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, you can get your choice of 10 entrées with either a house salad or soup for just $14.95. In these inflationary times, that’s a tremendous bargain.
I ordered the beef ravioli with marinara sauce, and the minestrone soup. The ravioli were quite good (and covered in tasty sauce—so much so that when a ravioli bite slipped off my fork and fell into the sauce, the resulting splatter created a significant mess)—but my mind keeps going back to that cup of minestrone soup.
To say it was packed with veggies would be an understatement. Onion, tomato, carrot, celery, zucchini and other vegetable chunks rose above the broth, with some pieces of pasta hiding toward the bottom of the cup; every bite was a hearty, fresh-tasting treat. There was slight chill in the air—it is winter, after all, even here in the desert—and the soup definitely warmed me up.
Norma’s regular menu includes a large variety of fare, including all of the Italian standards, as well as sandwiches, pizzas and more—and whatever I order on my next visit, you can bet that order will include more of that splendid minestrone.