Minestrone Soup

I love making soup, it’s an easy way to get a good serving of vegetables in, not to mention it is easy to reheat for a quick meal. And, mostly because once you start cooking it, you can leave it on the stove and go about your busy day.

When you are ready to eat it there’s always plenty to with share or freeze for another meal.

This recipe for Minestrone Soup was passed down to me from my Aunt Mary. She was a wonderful cook, in fact, she even wrote her own cookbook and gifted a copy to everyone in our family.

This minestrone soup recipe may not be the typical minestrone you have had in the past as she uses savoy cabbage. However, the cabbage tends to richen the broth and give it a rich buttery taste without the added calories. I think you will agree once you try it.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of olive Oil
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 large onion chopped
• 4 large cloves of garlic chopped
• 2 cups of fresh green beans cut up
• About ½ head of savoy cabbage shredded
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup of water
• 1 16 oz can red kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1 16 oz can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
• 1 16 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• Fresh spinach (a few handfuls)
• 1-2 TBS Fresh oregano
• 1 cup of brown rice
• 4 32 oz. boxes of Organic Beef Broth  
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Chop Vegetables. Quick tip-I use a food processor to chop up the celery, carrots, and onion.
2. Heat the oil in a large soup pan first, then sauté the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery, for about five minutes.
3. Next add the rice and sauté that for another two minutes. My Aunt always stated that it was a very important step to sauté the rice.
4. Add your beef broth, tomatoes and water.
5. Cook for about 15 minutes and then add all the drained and rinsed beans.
6. Stir it up and after it simmers about 15 minutes, add the shredded cabbage.
7. Reduce your heat to a very low simmer and let it cook for another two hours.
8. You should add the spinach just a few minutes before you want to eat it as it cooks fast and you want to keep the flavor.
9. When it’s ready to serve, top it off with Parmesan or Romano cheese. My Aunt always saved the cheese rinds and used them to flavor her soups. Also, this minestrone soup would be the perfect soup to add a cheese rind to.

My entire family loves this soup and I always make plenty to pass around. The vegetables and the beans are both healthy and low in calories, and with the brown rice it’s gluten free.

You can add the salt and pepper to your liking. I usually have a warm loaf of bread around and then the meal is complete.

Mangia!