MINESTRONE SOUP

Who else lives off soup in the fall? I love this time of the year when you can cook up a soup on the stove, wear a big cozy sweater and comfy leggings and eat soup for lunch. It warms you up from the inside out. So comforting! And in the case of this Minestrone Soup, also quite nutritious!

As much as I love making soup in the slow cooker like my Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup and Butternut Squash Chili, it’s really not that much work to make soup on the stove top. The plus side is that you can eat it a lot sooner. Plus, the smell of cooking the mirepoix (onion, carrots, and celery) is divine and just takes me back to my childhood home.

While you might get a little intimidated by the long list of ingredients in this soup, just know that it is truly worth it. The flavor of this soup is divine! This is actually a copycat recipe of Ristorante della Fontana that used to be in downtown Salt Lake City. My mom still talks about how good their Minestrone Soup was and this takes just like!

To throw this minestrone soup recipe together, all you have to do is chop up some veggies, throw them in a pot to cook and soften and then you add in almost all the other ingredients and let it simmer so that the vegetables and barley cook. Then you add in the pasta, cabbage, and garbanzo beans. The reason you wait to add these is so they don’t get overdone. No one wants mushy noodles. Close to the very end you add the frozen peas and green beans and stir in the spinach. Ladle it into some bowls and dinner or lunch is served! Enjoy!

Minestrone Soup

Course Soup

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 10

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 1/2 cups carrots, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 ounce) diced tomatoes
• 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
• 1 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 13 cups water
• 7 teaspoons beef bouillon
• 6 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 1 can (15 ounce) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 1 Parmesan rind (optional)
• 1 cup miniature shell pasta
• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup cabbage, chopped
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup fresh spinach, packed
• Parmigiano Reggiano freshly shredded

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat and add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes until onions are tender. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in the seasonings and then the water, bouillon, kidney beans, barley, and Parmesan rind. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
2. Add the pasta, garbanzo beans, and cabbage, cover and simmer 10 more minutes. 
3. Add the green beans and peas and cook covered for another 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach. Serve soup topped with Parmesan.