Vegetable minestrone soup
Posted under: 
Inspired by the various fresh vegetables we saw on display at the local farmer’s market, we decided to make Minestrone soup – a wholesome and healthy soup. We always make a big pot as we can eat it all week without getting sick of it! It is one of our favorite winter time meals. Each time I make it, I use different seasonal vegetables. The great thing about this soup is that there is no set recipe or ingredients – it varies from thick and dense texture with very boiled down vegetables to a more brothy soup with large quantities of diced and slightly cooked vegetables with pasta. We used small elbow macaroni but you can replace it with beans or chickpeas to make it even healthier. Garnish it with some cheese (optional) and serve with a slice of crusty garlic bread or crackers!
Minestrone Soup
By
Published: February 17, 2012
- Yield: 6 cups
- Prep: 30 mins
- Cook: 55 mins
- Ready In: 1 hr 25 mins
Inspired by the various fresh vegetables we saw on display at the local farmer’s market, we decided to make Minestrone soup – …
Ingredients
- 2 bouillon cubes or 6 cups of vegetable broth
- 2 tomatoes diced
- 1 can V8 vegetable juice optional
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 2 carrots peeled and finely chopped into rings
- 1/2 stalk celery finely chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 3 zucchini finely chopped
- 25-30 string beans finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 bayleaf optional
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup elbow macaroni
Instructions
- Boil 6 cups of water and throw in the vegetable broth cubes
- Add all the vegetables, garlic, onion, bay leaf, salt and pepper and boil for 30 minutes on medium heat
- Add V8 vegetable juice, oregano and basil to this mixture and boil for another 20 minutes
- Add the pasta and bring to a slow simmer. Cook for another 25 minutes till the pasta is cooked
- Remove the bay leaf and serve with crackers or crusty garlic bread
Love it! Try adding kidney, pinto, black beans and/or chickpeas too for extra protein and yummy value!
Good recipe. I also put everything in a pressure cooker and cook it. That way, the flavours all come together. Adding the tomato early, tends to keep the vegetables intact and not get all mushy either.