Minestrone Soup

Minestrone is a very comforting and a hearty soup made in a tomato based broth. It is a complete meal filled with vitamins from the vegetables and greens, protein from the beans and necessary carb for the pasta. It is a one pot meal and great for any weeknight dinner. To make life easier I have used canned beans and tomato, but you can always replace with home cooked beans if you have time. A rustic bread on the side to dunk into the soup will be great. This recipe makes a big batch and can easily feed 8 for a full meal. I always find this soup to be more tastier the next day as the flavors develop with time.

Servings 8
Prep 10 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total Time 50 mins

Ingredients

  • 3 garlic cloves – finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion – finely chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery – finely chopped
  • 2 medium sized carrots – diced
  • 1 zucchini (I did not add it) -diced
  • 2 cops of roughly chopped spinach
  • 1 can red beans – rinsed and drained
  • 1 can cannellini beans – rinsed and drained
  • 1 tsp each dried oregano and thyme or 2 tsp of Italian seasoning
  • 1 28oz or 2 15oz canned diced tomato
  • 4 to 5 cups vegetable broth. if store-bought roughly 2 32oz containers
  • crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 cup dry elbow/macaroni pasta
  • water as needed
  • salt and pepper as needed

Instructions

  1. Heat up olive oil or bitter in a large heavy bottom pot or a dutch oven, add chopped garlic and saute it for few secs.
  2. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook until tender. This mix of vegetable is called mirepoix and used as the base for many Italian soups.
  3. Add the zucchini and the dry spices and cook for few more min.
  4. Add the tomato along with the juices, broth and water. The soup will be very watery at this point but it will get thicker when we add in the pasta.
  5. Add the drained beans, spinach, salt and pepper and boil in high heat for about 10 min.
  6. Add the pasta and simmer for another 20 min until the pasta is cooked enough.
  7. Add the crushed red pepper and adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.Garnish with parmesan cheese if desired when serving.