My Vegetarian Minestrone – The Big Soup

30

06.7.11

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My Vegetarian Minestrone – The Big Soup

 

When the weather is gloomy, when it’s raining & cold outside and when you are too lazy to cook but want a big hearty meal, a bowl full of Minestrone is the best!

Like I said in my last post I have all sorts of vegetables stored in my refrigerator. One of the best way to use it up is to make soups. I make big vegetable soups at least 2 times a week. It’s my family’s favorite dinner option. My daughter loves picking out different vegetables, naming it and eating it!

Minestrone is a rustic Italian soup which literally means ‘the big soup’. There is no one authentic recipe for it. It normally has lots of vegetables, beans, pasta and meat. You can play around with what you have on hand with seasonal vegetables, beans or no beans, rice, pasta or bread as different possibilities.  I LOVE minestrone because it’s full of flavor, hearty, comforting and really easy to make. It’s another healthy, full of vegetables, one pot meal which comes to my rescue every time I wonder what to cook for dinner!

My version of minestrone today has pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, green bell pepper, tomatoes, onion, garlic and pasta. I used a couple of spoons of tomato soup for a deeper tomato flavor and a couple of dashes of Tabasco for some heat. I used some dried thyme for seasoning but any fresh or dry Italian herb will be good. I usually buy different fun shapes pastas for my daughter and I threw one of them to the soup but feel free to add anything you like. I didn’t really use any beans but if you have some kidney beans or cannellini beans canned/cooked I am sure it’ll taste great in this recipe.

This was my perfect healthy tasty dinner! What’s your favorite ‘rescue recipe’?

 

minestrone-1

Lots of vegetables

 

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pasta

 

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rustic Italian soup

 

minestrone-5

healthy, full of vegetables, one pot meal!

 

minestrone-3

full of flavor, hearty and comforting

 

[typography font=”Cantarell” size=”24″ size_format=”px” color=”#b36f98″]Ingredients:[/typography]

  • 1 big onion,
  • 6-8 garlic pods,
  • 1 cup tomato
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1 cup potato
  • 1 cup green bell pepper
  • 1 cup carrots
  • ½ to 1 cup pasta
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp tomato sauce
  • 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • Salt

 

Clean and dice all the vegetables. Do not peel them and dice them roughly as this is a very rustic soup. Crush the garlic and chop the tomatoes.

Heat olive oil in a big pot. Add garlic and onion and fry till transparent. Add the tomatoes and cook till soft. Now add rest of the veggies and mix well. Add 6-7 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the seasonings; salt, thyme, tomato paste and tobacco sauce. Mix and taste and adjust the amount of spice and salt according to your taste. Now let it simmer till all the vegetables are soft. Toss the dry pasta in, turn of the heat and cover the pot with a lid. The pasta will cook slowly and absorb a lot of water so make sure there is extra water in there. It will cook and thicken the soup. Let is stand for 5-10 mins and serve when hot with a piece of fresh bread.

 

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