When I went grocery shopping the other day, I decided to pick out one new recipe to try over the next week or so. I’ve been saying I would do this for months, if not years now, but just never really got around to trying anything I found around the Internet. So perhaps I can manage to do one every two weeks…or once a month – we’ll see.
At any rate, I stumbled upon a recipe for minestrone on allrecipes that reminded me of the veggie soup my mom always makes. It’s one of those dishes that you can put everything but the kitchen sink into and although she’s made it 1000 times for me, I somehow never really paid enough attention so that I could make it myself. I also seem to be best at reading recipes and then free-styling them later versus free-styling from the get go. I think that has to do with me just not trusting my cooking skills enough…but I’m getting better.
So on to the minestrone. I do rather wish I’d found the recipe when we still had lots of vegetables in our own garden but it’s something for the end of this year at least. The recipe above was a good starting block but after reading a few reviews, I decided to throw in a few veggies not on her list…and while it was cooking I also tossed in some extra spices. So the recipe below is actually Tiffany’s Minestrone, now, but I have to thank Jamie & my mom for inspiring me!
You can throw some pasta in each bowl when you serve this or whip up a batch of cornbread which tastes really excellent with it. Or if you like a heartier bread, make some garlic bread sticks or try sunflower seed bread (or your other favorite bread) with butter. Yum!
If you’re looking for a nice, hearty veggie soup for a yucky, cold day, this is definitely the way to go. You can throw in whatever kind of vegetables you personally like instead of what the recipe calls for, just remember to adjust the tomato sauce, crushed tomato and water quantities accordingly. For example, my mom usually puts potato chunks in her soup.
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- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 5 carrots sliced
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups tomato sauce
- 3 cups crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup red wine optional
- 1 cup canned kidney beans drained
- 1 can green beans 15 ounce
- 1 can sweet corn 15 ounce
- 2 cups baby spinach rinsed
- 4 small/medium zucchinis quartered and sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoon garlic pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese for topping
Ingredients
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- In a large stock pot, over medium-low heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and saute for 4 to 5 minutes. Add celery and carrots, saute for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add chicken broth, tomato sauce, and crushed tomatoes. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. If desired add red wine at this point. Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans, corn, spinach leaves, zucchini, oregano, basil, garlic pepper, salt and black pepper. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours, the longer the better.
- Ladle soup into bowl, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top and serve.
