A light tasty and healthy vegetable soup that is easy to make and packed with flavour!
I was looking over my soup recipes recently and I realized that I had not shared one of my favourties, this minestrone soup. Minestrone soup is an Italian style vegetable soup commonly containing things like tomatoes, onions, celery, carrots, beans, pasta, rice, etc. and really you can use pretty much any combination of vegetables in it. This soup is really easy to make, though it may require some time to dice and slice all of the vegetables! The only real trick is to know approximately how long each vegetable needs to cook so that you can add them at the right time so that they do not turn to mush. The combination of veggies in this recipe is with one that I use most frequently and it starts with the onions, celery and carrots, followed by tomatoes and then zucchini, green beans and spinach! I like to add parmesan to melt into the soups broth as it adds an amazing layer of flavour to the soup, and I don’t let that stop me from serving the soup garnished with even more parmesan!
Minestrone Soup
Prep Time:15 minutes Cook Time:25 minutes Total Time:40 minutes Servings: 8
A light tasty and healthy vegetable soup that is easy to make and packed with flavour!
ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup onions, diced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 3 cups vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
- 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 8 ounces pasta (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 pound green beans, cut into bite sized pieces
- 5 ounces baby spinach, coarsely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan cheese), grated (optional)
directions
- Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, add the onions, celery and carrot and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and fennel and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the broth, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, and pasta, bring to a boil, reduce the beat and simmer until the pasta is almost cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, green beans and spinach and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.
- Mix in the parsley and parmesan and enjoy!
Option: Use your favourite vegetables!
Option: Throw a parmesan rind into simmer with the soup for extra flavour!
Option: Add a few tablespoon of tomato paste for a richer tomato flavour.
