Minestrone Soup

A great minestrone that anyone can appreciate. This Italian classic is very versatile and can include any of your favourite vegetables, beans or pasta noodles. This recipe goes well with fresh bread or biscuits. But beware, will all these vegetables, this soup is quite filling.

Serves: 8-10

For this batch, we didn't add the extra cup of  water at the end,
but in hindsight, we should have. Also, The pasta continues to
absorb the liquid while in the fridge, so you may have to add
more liquid and a bit more salt and pepper when reheating.
.... Also, we forgot the celery. Woops.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 large carrot, diced

1 lg celery stalk, diced

1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" pieces

1 large red potato, cubed

1 cup fresh (or frozen) green beans, cut into 1" segments 

2 cups roughly chopped kale

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

2 cups tomato purée (if not available, use more broth)

2 cups vegetable broth

2 cups boiling water

1 16ox can mixed beans, with liquid

1 1/2 cup large shells, or 1 cup medium shells or other noodles

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. 

Add onion, garlic, celery, carrot and potato.While cooking add the dried spices. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until lightly browned and quite possibly starting to stick to the bottom of the pot.  

Add tomatoes, tomato purée, broth and half of the water. 

Turn heat to high, stir then bring to a boil. 

Add canned beans, green beans and zucchini and reduce to a simmer. Then, stir in pasta noodles and simmer for an additional 20-30 minutes until all vegetables and noodles are tender. (If the pasta is a bit al dente, its all right,it will continue to cook off the heat.) 

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat. 

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!