Minestrone Soup
Soup is a staple in our household. It is tasty, healthy, and cheap. And you can make a ton of it. We always send a bowl over to Yiayia Pan when we make it. The last time I got a traffic ticket was when I was delivering a bowl to my mother who lives alone. The cop dinged me for a broken tail light. She was looking for gangbangers. She got a momma’s boy. The cop felt guilty… but not guilty enough to get out of the ticket.
Minestrone is one of my go to soups. It’s pretty versatile in that you can just dump in whatever you have lying around. I usually make sure to have a zuccini and aa squash before I make minestrone. Then I hope I have some sort of beans to put in.
Ingredients
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 cups water
4 tomatoes pureed
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic (minced)
Italian seasoning *
3 celery stalks (1 cup)
2 carrots (1 cup)
1 zucchini diced
1 yellow squash diced
1 cup green beans chopped
1.5 cups Orecchiette pasta (pasta shells)
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans (washed and drained)
1 (15 oz) can white navy beans (washed and drained)
2 cups fresh baby spinach
3 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Italian Seasoning
If you have Italian seasoning in the bottle feel free to use it. Otherwise here is a quick seasoning recipe to give some flavor to the broth
2 tsp basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp dried rosemary (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot.
Add onions, carrots, celery and sauté for 4 minutes.
Add 4 minced garlic cloves to the pot and sauté for 1 more minute.
Pour in chicken stock, water, and tomato puree. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the Italian herbs.
Bring broth to boil, then cover and reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add zucchini, squash, green beans and pasta. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes until the pasta is tender.
Add kidney beans, white beans, and spinach. Cook 2 minutes.
Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve with salt crackers and Parmesan cheese.
Reheating Instructions
Minestrone soup will continue to suck up the flavor of the broth. You should add extra salted water/broth and boil on the stove for 5 minutes. Then let it cool.