A classic Minestrone Soup is a soup of seasonal vegetables cooked in a broth. Though, traditionally, it was cooked in water. Feel free to use whatever chicken broth you find. Though, I usually have homemade broth leftover from the Chicken and Rice recipe. It is great for soups!
So, what makes THIS Minestrone Soup a little different?
- Homemade broth
- White wine
- Parmesan rinds
- Chard instead of cabbage
This recipe is merely a guideline. A little more or a little less of an ingredient will not hurt. Cook slowly and add what you wish.
My absolute favorite part of any large batch recipe is…FREEZING. I will freeze in 4 heaping cup family sized portions OR in 1 heaping cup individual sized portions.
Serve this delicious Minestrone Soup with a fresh salad and bread for a delicious meal!
Minestrone Soup
This Minestrone soup warms the soul! This classic soup recipe is healthy and can easily be made with seasonal veggies and items already on hand. Use the recipe as a guideline. Though, if using frozen ingredients, they do not need to cook for 2 hours. This recipe is certainly for a crowd. It makes somewhere between 15-20 cups of coup. Servings sizes are at about one cup person.
Servings: 0
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 T butter
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4-5 whole carrots, peeled and diced
- 4-5 ribs celery, diced
- 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut and soaked (or 1 small bag of frozen cut green beans)
- 2-3 zucchini, halved then chopped or diced
- 1 bunch swiss chard, chopped and washed
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 6-8 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 can white kidney beans any sort of white bean combo will be just fine
- 1 can garbanzo beans
- 2-3 chunks Parmesan rind cut the rind of the parm
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 box Ditalini pasta, cooked
- Pesto and Freshly Grated Parm
Instructions
- Select a large soup/stock pot. (I used an industrial stock pot.)
- On medium-low to medium heat, add oil and butter to pot.
- Cook onions until they turn gold, not brown. About 5 minutes.
- About every 3 minutes, add the following and stir and repeat; carrots, celery, potatoes, zucchini, fresh green beans (if using frozen, wait until later), then chard.
- Add crushed tomatoes, broth, Parmesan rind, and salt. Stir well. Cover pot with lid and cook for about 2 hours. Stir occasionally. The soup will stick if the heat is too high. Dilute with water or broth if soup seems too thick.
- When soup is nearly finished, add beans (and frozen green beans).
- Adjust seasoning, as needed. Salt and pepper.
- Add cooked pasta just before serving. Serve with Pesto and grated parm.