I just recently developed a love for minestrone soup. I’m not sure what took me so long, but I’ve finally come around. I think I may have had a bad experience with minestrone soup in my childhood… I have a faint memory of a dry minestrone soup mix in my mother’s cupboard, and I think it was not a pleasant meal. It is still unconfirmed, but that’s my suspicion.
Anyway, I found a couple of recipes on Pinterest for minestrone soup in the crockpot, and decided to try it out because it looked so good in all the pictures. I realized I wasn’t going to be able to make the easy version that I had originally found (it contained a packet of seasoning mix that was rather elusive at my local grocery stores), and in an effort to save money, I just decided to use what I had on hand. I also decided to make it last minute, so the crockpot was no longer an option and I had to adapt it for the stovetop.
So below is a stovetop version that I came up with from about 5 different recipes. Guess what? It was darn delicious.
Ingredients
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups cooked shell pasta (al dente)
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach
- 4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Directions
- In a large pot, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cover and cook about 30 minutes. Add cooked pasta*, zucchini, and spinach and cook another 15-20 minutes. Remove bay leaves and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
- *You could also add dried pasta into your soup, but I didn't have much broth, so I decided to cook it first. If you add it dry, cook for about 15 minutes and then add your zucchini and spinach and cook another 15 minutes.
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