minestrone soup

I haven't done a whole lot of cooking in the last few days, cooking for one just isn't as fun. Now that my husband is back from the field, it's back to the kitchen... which I am very happy about. Tonight I cooked minestrone soup. Not too exciting, but I was trying to re-create Olive Garden's version that I absolutely love. It's not the same but it's delicious. Hot soup for a cold winter day, 13 degrees here.

Anyways, I'll get down to it. Here's the recipe :)

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 1 cup frozen italian cut green beans (I couldn't find italian style here, so I used regular cut green beans)
• 1 stalk celery, minced
• 4 tsp minced garlic
• 4 cups vegetable broth (DO NOT use chicken broth)
• 2 cans (15 oz each) red kidney beans, drained
• 2 cans (15 oz each) great northern beans (or any small white beans), drained
• 1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley (I used dried, 1 Tbsp)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 3 cups hot water
• 4 cups fresh baby spinach (I didn't have spinach today and didn't feel like going to the store, so I left this out today)
• 1 cup small shell pasta

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans and zucchini for about five minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
3. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, hot water and spices to the soup pot.
4. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add spinach leaves and pasta, cook for 20 minutes.

 

Short blog tonight but wanted to get something up here. Pretty easy recipe and it makes enough for about eight people. Hope you all enjoy :)