Minestrone Soup Recipe
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Category: |
Category: |
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Ingredients:
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter may sub olive oil
1 small onion diced
2 medium size carrots chopped (1 cup)
3 stalks celery chopped (1 cup)
4-6 garlic cloves minced
5 oz. fresh green beans trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 zucchini thickly sliced (1/4”) and quartered
2 14.5 oz. cans diced fire roasted tomatoes with juices
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 15.5 oz. can kidney beans drained and rinsed
1 1/2 tsp EACH dried basil, dried parsley
1 tsp EACH dried oregano, salt, sugar
1/2 tsp EACH black pepper, dried thyme
1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
6 cups low sodium chicken broth may sub vegetable broth
2 cups water
ADD LATER:
1 1/2 cups uncooked small pasta shells
2-3 cups baby spinach
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
fresh basil optional
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Directions: |
Directions:Instructions:
Melt butter in olive oil in a large Dutch oven/soup pot. Add onions, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring often, for 5-7 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds.
Add all remaining soup ingredients through the water.
Cover soup and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.
Add pasta and cook just until al dente.
Remove from heat and stir in spinach. Let wilt (about 1 minute).
Add additional water if desired for a less “chunky” soup.
Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with freshly grated Parmesan. |
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Number Of
Servings: |
Number Of
Servings:8 |
Preparation
Time: |
Preparation
Time:45 minutes |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: Notes:
Correct Pasta: My favorite pasta to use for this Minestrone Soup recipe is small/mini pasta shells. Small pasta shapes that are about the size of your chopped veggies ensure you get the right ratio of pasta to veggies in every slurpful. Other small pastas such as ditalini (the small short tubes) and mini penne will also work. I don’t recommend medium pastas.
Al Dente Pasta: Cook the pasta just until al dente (meaning it has a little bite) to it because it will still cook a little once you remove it from the heat and nothing is worse than ruining a whole pot of Minestrone Soup than with soggy pasta.
Cook Pasta Separately: As this Minestrone Soup Recipe is written, the pasta cooks in the pot with the veggies. If you aren’t prepared to babysit your pasta towards the end of cooking, then simply cook your pasta separately and add to individual bowls. You will also want to cook your pasta separately if you plan on freezing your Minestrone Soup.
Customize Veggies: This Minestrone Recipe is very forgiving when it comes to customizing the veggies with whatever you have on hand. You can swap the spinach for Swiss chard or baby kale, add potatoes (chopped ½” and add with green beans), add frozen peas, cabbage (both at end when you would add spinach), etc.
Zucchini: The zucchini takes the least amount of time to cook, so take care you cut it on the thick side – at least ¼” chunks.
Green Beans: I like fresh green beans but they are not my favorite vegetable – but guess what?! They are my favorite vegetable in this Minestrone Soup Recipe – I highly recommend them!
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