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Minestrone – the Leftover Soup

I had never made minestrone soup before, and now I'm glad I did! This soup is filling, yet light, if that makes sense. It has no meat in it, but the beef stock is so rich that it balances out the vegetables. The addition of beans makes it a bit heartier. And it's easy and quick to make!

Minestrone is Italian for ‘the big soup', and it can be made with any leftovers you have. I used ingredients that I had on hand and in the freezer, so this was a very inexpensive soup to make, yet extremely nutritious. What a great thing to make on the weekend, and freeze for leftovers or take for lunches during the week!

Tips to make good minestrone soup:

  • For a good balance, try using at least three types of vegetables, one bean, and one starch. Or leave the starch out and make this a low carb and gluten free treat.
  • Use vegetables in season, or bits of leftover veggies that you keep in a bag in the freezer. If the veggies are cooked already, throw them in the soup just long enough to heat them up, or they'll turn into mush.
  • Minestrone is typically made with beef stock but improvise with what you have. Using homemade broth will make a HUGE difference in the final product.
  • If you add pasta or rice, make sure it's cooked first and add it to the serving bowls individually so it doesn't get mushy in the soup for leftovers. If freezing, it's ok to add it to the portion right before you freeze it.

Minestrone Soup

Rating: 2 forks (key)

Shawn won't eat soup, and Allie thought this was too ‘vegetabley' (sigh), but Zoie and I loved it so much we were glad to have it all to ourselves.

Difficulty:

Easy

Page in NT: 210

Yield & Notes:

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 quarts beef stock
2 T olive oil
1 clove of garlic, peeled and mashed [TNC: I added more, we love garlic]
1 large onion, chopped [TNC: Not in the NT recipe]
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped [TNC: I used 1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes and their juice]
2 cups cooked kidney beans [TNC: I used whole pintos that I had in the freezer even though they're not an italian bean]
1 cup buckwheat or brown rice pasta, broken in bits [TNC: I used cooked elbow macaroni. Add this to each portion, not the pot]
1 cup fresh spinach or chard, finely chopped [TNC: I used some veggies I had on hand: peas and cauliflower]
parmesan cheese for topping

Preparation:

Cook onions & carrots in oil until onions are soft, then add chopped garlic. Add tomatoes, beans and the rest of your cooked vegetables and simmer about 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and add hot pasta or rice to each serving, top with parmesan cheese. I like to top mine with sauerkraut and a dollop of cultured sour cream, yum!!

Photo courtesty of diekatrin on Flickr

 
PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.
   

Tagged as: beans, brown rice, freezes well, gluten free, italian, Leftovers, low carb, lunch food, minestrone, pasta, soup, vegetables

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Peggy January 10, 2010 at 8:57 am

I hear your sigh. None of my kids would eat soup for the longest time. Making homemade has enticed them, though, and once they tried it, they liked it. Give it time and I’ll bet you have converts!

I keep a “soup bag” in the freezer (not to be confused with the “stock bag”) where I toss leftovers of unseasoned but cooked foods like beans, sauteed celery and onion, etc. At least twice a month I’ll toss this into broth, add whatever elements are missing, and make a very, very inexpensive, healthy meal!

Reply

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3 Kathy Ann February 7, 2010 at 5:29 am

I have been cooking from this cookbook for over a year now. I especially enjoy the ferments. I have found that once comfortable with the basic premise of WAP cooking I was able to “convert” most recipes from other sources. It is a fabulous way to eat!! There are times when I have to stray from NT eating ( ea recent deployment to Haiti) but I have found that I really miss it and have no trouble at all getting back to it. I feel that it keeps me very healthy, no colds, no flu, no infections!! Thanks for taking the time to blog about this amazing book.

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4 kitchenrecovery January 7, 2011 at 4:18 pm

I’ll be making this tonight with my leftover oxtail broth and leftover beans!

Reply

5 peggy September 19, 2012 at 11:35 am

My husband and I just retired and I have been cooking more. Just made minestrone soup from scratch for the first time. It was great and I would like to freeze the leftovers. I made it with salami and was told freezing items that contained meat was unhealthy. Is there anything I can do to freeze soups and pasta dishes with meat? Is there anything I need to have to freeze meat items safely. Thank you for your help. Peggy

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