Easy Minestrone Soup

—

And now as soon as it turns 70 degrees I will share with you some soup.

Because up until right this moment I was hoarding it all for myself.

I loooooooove soup. And I know I have mentioned it before, but no one else in my house loves soup. Also there are no restaurants in this forsaken town that serve {edible} soup. Once I tried it at this place called The Crock Pot and we will never speak of that again. Sooooo unless I make my own and then eat soup for days I am basically out of luck.

Good thing this soup is awesome enough to want to eat everyday. Ohhh yes it is.

I’ve been on this weird Olive Garden copycat kick lately which is weird because it’s not someplace I really frequent. I think I have not been in about 3 years. But everyone in the universe loves their bottomless soup, salad, and bread sticks. Yes. That is not an over-exaggeration. Everyone. So I made the soup and then cheated with the bread sticks. I bought them at Aldi, buttered ’em, and sprinkled them with a little grated Parmesan. Totally good and they scratched my bread stick itch (ew).

You could get really crazy and turn out this Classic Crusty Herbed Loaf – ready in just an hour!

Or you could just get down with this fully loaded vegetarian bowl of goodness and a stack of magazines. Stars! They eat soup just like us!

No they don’t.

Okay. So let’s talk about minestrone. Zucchini. 3 kinds of beans. Onions. Tomatoes. All the herbs. Little bits of pasta. Garlic. So much nutrition that I think I may have existed solely on minestrone soup when I had my first apartment at 18 and the restaurant I worked for let us have free soup after our shifts. You remember days like that, right? Right.

Let’s do this.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Easy Minestrone Soup

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Vegetarian soup loaded with zucchini, tomatoes, 3 kinds of beans, and pasta. Perfect for filling the freezer to yield quick lunches on cold days. Or warm days.

Author: Heather Tullos

Serves: a big 'ol pot of soup! (about 10)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 cup celery, trimmed and diced
• 1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 small zucchini, halved and sliced into thin half-moons
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (28 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 once can Italian green beans, drained
• about 20 ounces vegetable broth (more as needed)
• 1 cup small pasta (I used small shells but ditalini is also a favorite)
• 1½ cups fresh spinach, torn
• fresh grated Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper (and bread!) for serving

Instructions

1. In a large stock pot heat the oil. Add the onions, celery, and carrots. Cook over medium high heat until they begin to soften -- 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the zucchini, garlic, basil, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Stir and cook for about a minute.
3. Add the bay leaves and tomatoes. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the 3 kinds of beans and the broth.
4. Let the liquid come to a boil. Add the pasta and let it cook to al dente. Reduce the heat and toss in the fresh spinach. Let it cook until it just begins to wilt but is still bright green.
5. Serve the soup HOT! topped with the grated Parmesan, pepper and bread for dipping.

Notes

This soup freezes well! I'd opt to leave out the pasta and add it upon re-heating so it doesn't get mushy.

3.2.2265