Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Recipe and Photography Credit

Elise Bauer SimplyRecipes

You can use canned beans (use a good quality brand, I recommend S&W or Bush's) or you can cook dry beans.

If starting with dry beans, soak about 3/4 cup of dry beans overnight in cold water (or pour boiling water over the beans and soak for 1 hour). Drain. Cover with a couple inches of salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour, or until tender enough to eat. Then drain and use in this recipe as directed.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped carrot

3/4 cup chopped celery

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs of fresh thyme or a teaspoon of dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed

1 yukon gold potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks

2 cups sliced savoy or curly cabbage

1 zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch chunks

2 medium fresh ripe tomatoes (romas if available), cored, peeled, chopped

6 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian version)

1 15-ounce can of cannellini or great northern white beans, drained (about 1 1/2 cups cooked white beans)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese, grated for garnish

To Make

1 Sauté onions, carrots, celery, garlic in olive oil: Heat oil in a 4 to 5 quart thick-bottomed pot on medium high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.

2 Add herbs, potato, vegetables, stock: Add the bay leaf, thyme, fennel seeds. Add the potato, cabbage, zucchini, and tomatoes. Add the chicken stock.

3 Simmer until vegetables are cooked through: Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and cooked through.

4 Add beans, parsley, salt, pepper: Add the beans and parsley to the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 is more minutes. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

Serve with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.