Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup  (serves 6)

This is a great soup!  Pretty much, you are going to take the remainder of all the vegetables and herbs you have from this week and combine them into this soup.  It will be delish.  Be sure to substitute vegetable stock for the chicken broth to make this vegetarian. 

Minestrone Soup

This is a crockpot recipe. If you do not have a crockpot you can make this in a big soup pot and just let it simmer for hours.  If you work from home you can probably make this on the weekday.  If not, you'll have to make it on the weekend.  If you want to make it during the week, you might be able to make a quick version of this (though the flavor won't be as amazing because it didn't cook all day) by doing the following:

1. In a big soup pot, saute the garlic for 1 minute.  Add in onions, carrots, celery.  Cook until they are soft. 

2. Then add the broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, herbs, parmesan rind, salt & pepper.  Add the zucchini & spinach.  Bring to boil.  Reduce and simmer for as long as you can.

3.  Meanwhile - about 20 minutes before your ready to eat - begin cooking your pasta (until al dente).  Add  the pasta to the soup about 10 minutes before you're ready to eat.

4.  When you're ready to eat remove the cheese rind, rosemary, and bay leaves.  Adjust salt & pepper as necessary.  Ladle into bowls & top with more cheese and enjoy!