Minestrone Soup

A simple, vegetarian, Italian style soup made with vegetables, beans, pasta, tomatoes, and spices.

(Updated 2/18/16 pin-able image, tweet-ables, minor editing, linked posts)

I rarely use strict recipes when I make soup and often I forget to write down exactly what I used.  This is one of those soups.  It was delicious and I just added a little of this and a little of that until it smelled and tasted how I liked it.  I think it is rather difficult to ruin soup (maybe if you add too much salt) so there is a lot of leeway in what and how much you add.  In this recipe, I will give you an approximate guideline so you can make a soup similar to this.  Feel free to use whatever ingredients you have on hand and be creative.

Creativity never hurts #soup like #Minestrone Soup  [Tweet this]

The pasta.  You can use any pasta in a soup like this or even rice.  I used macaroni.  This is actually the macaroni I saved from the box of macaroni and cheese that I sacrificed for my Easy Cheesy Popcorn (I just used the cheese packet).  I'm not sure exactly how much it was just the amount of macaroni from a box of mac and cheese (somewhere between 1/2 and 1 cup).

Use any #pasta or #rice in Minestrone Soup  [Tweet this]

The broth.  I'm not exactly sure how much broth I used I imagine it's somewhere around 4 cups but possibly more.  I made this veggie broth from vegetable scraps so I never had exact measurements.  When I'm chopping vegetables and herbs I try to throw my scraps into a gallon sized freezer bag.  This usually contains things like onion ends, broccoli stems, celery pieces, carrot pieces, and sometimes peels (if I've washed them first).  Any vegetable scrap that I acquire throughout my cooking.  I store it in the freezer and when I want to make broth I empty the bag into my stock pot (or slow cooker), cover the scraps with water, and simmer for a few hours.  I then strain out the scraps and use the broth in recipes like soup.

#Homemadevegetablestock is great in #MinestroneSoup  [Tweet this]

The veggies.  I didn't have many vegetables in the house so I only used carrots, onion, and canned tomatoes.  If you have more veggies chop and add them or even add frozen mixed vegetables.  I don't think it could hurt to add to many vegetables.  If using more vegetables, you will probably want to use more broth to keep it soupy.  If you want to add meat that's okay too.

#Minestrone Soup is great #vegetarian or w/ meat  [Tweet this]

The beans.  I try to keep cooked beans in my freezer in 2 cup portions.  I don't add salt while cooking them so when I use them in recipes I add a little more salt.  For this recipe, the beans I had were red beans.  You could use just about any bean you have and using canned beans is fine just remember that salt is already added to canned beans and use less accordingly.

Minestrone Soup

Cook time:  about 45 minutes
Servings:  4

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
1 14.5 oz can of stewed tomatoes, crushed
4-6 cups vegetable broth
2 cups red beans
1/2-1 cup (dry) macaroni
dried basil
dried oregano
salt
pepper
Parmesan

Heat olive oil, over medium heat, in a stock pot.  Add the onion and cook until soft.  Then add the garlic and carrots.  Cook, stirring occasionally until slightly softened.  Add a bit of salt to the vegetable mixture.

Pour in the crushed tomatoes and vegetable broth. Cover and bring to a boil.

Add the beans, macaroni, basil, and oregano (or use an Italian blend).  Lower heat and simmer until macaroni is tender.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt or herbs as needed.

Makes about 4 servings.  Serve with fresh cracked pepper and Parmesan.

Enjoy.

Recipe mentioned in this post:

Easy Cheesy Popcorn

For more soup recipes check out:

Black Bean Soup     -

Cauliflower & Chickpea Soup

Lentil Soup         -

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