Minestrone Soup

Recipe Name: Minestrone Soup

Story: I love a good soup / stew. I will often make a big batch for meal prep and it will be my lunches for the week. I have been developing this recipe for a few years, and have finally landed on something that is now in regular rotation for me.

Years you've been making it: About 5 years

Author / Creator: Dustin

Submitted by: Dustin

Ingredients: 

• Cannellini beans, or Italian bean mix, or northern beans, dried, 8 oz
• Olive oil, 2 tbls
• Onion, 1, diced
• Carrots, 3, diced
• Celery, 3 stalks, diced
• Garlic cloves, 5 to 6 minced
• Oregano, dried, 1.5 tsp
• Basil, dried, 3/4 tsp
• Rosemary, fresh, minced, 1+ tbls
• Can diced tomatoes, 1 (or use 2 cans if you like it more tomato forward)
• Brown sugar, 1.5 tbls
• Chicken stock, 10 cups
• Russet potatoes, peeled and diced small
• Small pasta, such a Ditali, Macaroni, or Orecchiette, 1 cup dried (optional)
• Rotisserie Chicken, pulled and shredded, 1 to 1.5 lbs (optional)

Pick 2 vegetables:

• Zucchini, 1 medium, cut into bite size pieces (my preference)
• Summer Squash, 1 medium, cut into bite size pieces
• Green beans, 8 oz frozen (my preference)
• Spinach, fresh, 6 to 8 oz

Lemon juice, 1 lemon

Parsley, chopped, for garnish

Salt and pepper, to taste (you don't want to use too much black pepper as it will overwhelm the nuance of the nice vegetables)

Directions: 

See notes before beginning. Makes at least 8 big servings, closer to 10-12 if it is not the primary meal.

1. Quick soak the beans, or soak overnight.
2. Add beans, and chicken stock to pressure cooker and pressure cook on high for 20mins, then natural release for 10mins.
3. In a separate pot, saute onion, carrots, and celery in olive oil with a few pinches of salt for 5 or so mins until beginning to turn translucent.
4. Add garlic and saute for 1 min or so until fragrant.
5. Add oregano, basil, and rosemary, saute for 1 min until fragrant.
6. Add can of tomatoes, and let simmer for 3 to 5 mins until it has reduced a bit, be sure to stir to make sure nothing is sticking.
7. After the pressure cooked beans are done, add them with all of the stock to the pot with these sautéed vegetables and tomatoes.
8. Add russet potatoes (and some salt) and bring to a simmer, simmer for 10 mins.
9. After 10 mins, add remaining ingredients: pulled chicken (if using), pasta (if using), and the 2 (or more) veggies of choice. Bring to a simmer and simmer for roughly 10 mins until pasta is done and potatoes are fork tender.
10. Remove from heat, and squeeze 1 lemon worth of juice into pot, stir.
11. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust to preference.
12. Serve, garnished with chopped parsley.

Notes: 

Minestrone soup is almost like a kitchen sink vegetable soup. There are so many directions you can take it. But at its core are Cannellini beans, onions, carrots, and celery, rosemary, tomatoes, starch of choice, and veggies of choice.

I like to add pulled rotisserie chicken to mine because it makes it a bit heartier for me for lunches, but you can leave this out if you want it meat-less.

For the two starches, I almost exclusively use russet potatoes now. They hold up better as left overs (they don't turn mushy like the pasta). But if I were making this fresh and to serve a family or group, I would definitely add the pasta, it adds another nice texture.

I normally only pick 2 of the listed vegetables. This soup already has quite a lot of ingredients, and adding all 4, although you can totally do this, will make the soup more like a stew than a soup. My preferences are zucchini and green beans. But just add whatever you have!

Salt and pepper is to taste. It has quite a few veggies that need salt, and this makes quite a lot, so you will probably need to add more salt than you think. I add salt in stages, during the sweating of the onions, celery and carrots, and then also when I add the potatoes and other veggies. Be sure to taste for salt at the end, it probably will need more. I also do not add too much black pepper, maybe 1/2 tsp for this whole pot, but that is also a preference.