I love making soup in the winter for several reasons. First of all, when it's cold outside, soup tastes great. I also love making big
batches so that I can freeze 2-3 servings, which makes for easy weeknight meals
down the road. And finally – I love how creative I can get with things. This
minestrone is my mom’s recipe and definitely a #1 favorite in our house. It’s
packed full of veggies, but don’t feel limited by what I have listed here. If
you have something in your refrigerator that’s about to go bad – toss it in!
The rules are very flexible when it comes to this one!
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 20 mins
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, sliced
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced
- 1 bay leaf
- salt
- pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 48oz chicken stock
- 2 cups fresh cabbage, chopped
- 1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes (with liquid)
- 1 cup fresh or frozen green beans
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 can garbanzo beans, drained
- 1 can cannellini beans, drained
- handful of fresh spinach
- ditalini pasta (optional garnish)
Instructions
- In a large soup pot, add enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Then add chopped garlic, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf and cook until tender. Add salt & pepper (to taste) plus Italian seasoning. Cook until veggies are tender (5-7 minutes)
- Add chicken stock (6 cups) plus 2 cups of water (total 8 cups liquid). Stir well and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add cabbage, diced tomatoes, green beans, and zucchini. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until veggies are soft.
- Add garbanzo beans and cannellini beans. Cook about 10 minutes more.
- Add fresh chopped spinach leaves and cook until wilted (note: spinach will cook down a lot so be generous with your handful).
- Soup can simmer on the stove for several hours.
- Optional: serve with cooked ditalini pasta
