Minestrone Soup Short cuts of pasta or rice may also be added. Pancetta (optional) - since minestrone is a vegetable soup it's a perfect meal for lent. So pancetta, guanciale or lard cut in cubes is completely optional, but it gives an incredible rich, intense flavor to the veggies as if they were cooked in meat stock (which by the way is also an option).

Ingredients of Minestrone Soup

  1. You need 2 tbsp. of olive oil.
  2. You need 1 tbsp. of unsalted butter.
  3. You need 2 of large carrots, peeled and diced.
  4. Prepare 2 stalks of celery, diced.
  5. You need 1/2 of yellow onion, diced.
  6. It's 4 cloves of garlic, minced.
  7. It's 1/4 cup (2 oz.) of tomato paste.
  8. It's 1/2 tsp. of each oregano, dried basil.
  9. Prepare 1/4 tsp. of ground thyme.
  10. Prepare 1 can (28 oz.) of fire roasted crushed tomatoes.
  11. Prepare 4 cups of unsalted vegetable broth.
  12. You need 2 of bay leaves.
  13. It's 3/4 tsp. of salt.
  14. Prepare 1/4 tsp. of pepper.
  15. Prepare 2 of small potatoes, scrubbed and diced.
  16. It's 1 of zucchini, diced.
  17. It's 1 of yellow squash, diced.
  18. It's 1 can (15 oz.) of unsalted cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.
  19. Prepare 1 cup of ditalini pasta (or other small shape).
  20. It's 2 of heaping cups spinach, roughly chopped.

Minestrone Soup step by step

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the olive oil and the butter. Once it's hot and the butter has melted, stir in the onions, celery and carrot with a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until they have begun to soften up, about 3-5 minutes. Then stir in the tomato paste, garlic, oregano, thyme and basil. Cook about 2-3 minutes more, stirring pretty often..
  2. Pour a bit of the broth in and deglaze the pan. Then the rest with the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. Increase the heat to med-high and let this come up to a simmer. Once its simmering, stir in the beans, potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash along with the salt and pepper. Let this all simmer together until the veggies are all tender. Last, take out the bay leaves and stir in the chopped spinach and let it wilt down. Taste and add more salt, pepper, etc until you're happy with the flavor..
  3. While the soup is coming to a simmer, heat a separate pot of salted water over high heat. Once its boiling, cook the ditalini pasta according to package directions, then drain and set it aside until the soup is done..
  4. To serve, you can stir the cooked pasta into the soup, or if you're going to have a lot of leftovers, you can just keep them separate and add the pasta to individual bowls and pour the soup over top of it... that way the pasta won't absorb all the liquid..

Plus this is a great soup to hit the spot at any time of the year. Essentially, minestrone is a thick, hearty variety of vegetable soup, thanks to the addition of beans and sometimes pasta or rice. Tomatoes, carrots, onion, and celery are usually included, with other vegetables added at the cook's discretion. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chopped onion, carrot, celery, tomato paste and a pinch of salt. In a stockpot, saute the onions, celery and parsley in oil until tender.

Get Latest Recipe : HOME