Minestrone Soup

  

Growing up Friday nights during the winter were soup nights at my parents house, ironically, enough my husband grew up with the same tradition. During our 1 ½ + years of marriage we have carried this tradition out pretty faithfully… To the point that we even sometimes – actually pretty often – have soup during the summer!

 

 

I know that might sound crazy to some people, but if your house was as well air conditioned as my husband likes to keep it you would understand the need to eat soup during the hottest days of summer.

 

 

After three attempts at making Minestrone Soup for you guys I am finally able to present it to you! Homemade Minestrone Soup is probably one of my favorite soups because you can’t feel bad about eating seconds or even thirds. Which is basically what I do every time we make this soup. So the reason it has taken so long for me to share this recipe with you is because of my tendency to eat it all before I get a chance to take pictures of it… Sorry… but really I’m not so sorry, because it’s really good!

 

 

Ingredients:

½ cup celery

½ cup carrots

2 cups zucchini

1 cup green beans

1 large tomato = 1 cup diced tomato

2 large cloves of garlic

4 tablespoons butter

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon onion powder

2 ½ cups vegetable broth

2 ½ cup water

1 ½ cup dried pasta – or more depending on your love for pasta in Minestrone Soup

1 can red kidney beans – 15.5 ounces

1 can white kidney beans – 15.5 ounces

½ teaspoon McKay’s Chicken Style Instant Broth & Seasoning – affiliated link

1 packet of George Washington’s Rich Browning Seasoning Broth

1 dash garlic powder

½ teaspoon crushed dried basil

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon salt

 

 

 

First, comes the prep work. Chop ½ cup of celery, ½ cup of carrots, 2 cups of zucchini, 1 cup of green beans, dice 1 large tomato, and mince 2 large garlic cloves. Rinse and drain the beans and put them to the side with the other vegetables.

 

 

In a large pot melt 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Then add the ½ cup of celery, ½ cup of carrots, and the minced garlic. Sautee the vegetables with ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder.

 

Let the vegetables simmer at medium high heat, stirring occasional, for 3-4 minutes or until the celery begins to look transparent.

 

Then add in 2 ½ cups vegetable broth and 2 ½ cups water to the sautéed vegetables. Once the broth begins to boil add the pasta and let it boil for 2-3 minutes – or you can cook the pasta on the side according to the packaging instructions and let people add it into their own soup once you are ready to eat.

 

 

Then add the white and red kidney beans, let them cook for a minute or two, then add the green beans and let them cook for 2 minutes, then add the zucchini and let it cook for two minutes, and finally add the tomatoes. I know it sounds funny, but it really does make sense to cook the denser vegetables longer than the others.

 

Turn the heat down to medium and add ½ teaspoon of Mckay’s Chicken Seasoning, 1 packet of George Washington’s Rich Browning Seasoning Broth, 1 dash garlic powder, ½ teaspoon crushed dried basil, ½ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon salt. Continue to let it simmer until ready to eat.

 

 

Serve with a dash of freshly ground pepper and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

 

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