Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup
Yesterday I posted links to recipes that use a lot of one particular vegetable. Today I wanted to share one of my favorite “a bit of this and a bit of that” soups. It is based on Copy Cat Olive Garden Minestrone Soup . The original recipe really does taste like Olive Garden’s minestrone soup and I highly recommend it. Although I love the original, I cannot help modifying the recipe during harvest season to add more fresh spices and garden vegetables.
Kitchen Tip:
Replacing frozen or canned vegetables with fresh vegetables will not increase the cooking time (but does increase the prep time), if the recipe calls for you to boil the vegetables in liquid for more than ten minutes. Most fresh vegetables will cook in boiling liquid in less than ten minutes. Some vegetables, like potatoes will need to be cut into bite size pieces to cook in that amount of time. If a recipe does not require 10 minutes of boiling, you can steam your raw vegetables in a double boiler for 7 – 10 minutes before adding them in place of canned or frozen in your recipe. Since this recipe calls for a total of 30 minutes of boiling, I do not have to make any adjustments for the fresh vegetables.
For more Kitchen Tips visit Tammy’s Recipes.
Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup onion, minced
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut
1 stalk celery, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
7 – 8 cups Vegetable Broth
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans, drained
4 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (or 2 cans with juice)
1/2 cup carrots, julienned or shredded
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
3 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh basil, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (I did not have any of this spice in my garden this year, if you have fresh use 3/4 teaspoon minced thyme instead.)
3 – 4 cups fresh baby spinach (or frozen spinach thawed)
3/4 cup small shell pasta* or spaghetti *broken up in small pieces
Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat in a very large soup pot. Add onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini and sauté in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
Add vegetable broth tomatoes, beans, carrots, and spices to the pot. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
* I use gluten free pasta
I usually fall back on soups and chili to use up the odds and ends; my mother-in-law uses up the remnants in hash. Do you have a favorite “a bit of this and a bit of that” recipe?
For more delicious recipes visit Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tasty Tuesday.
I think good this and that recipes are fried rice and any sort of omelet or quiche dish. You can put anything in them *L*
I haven't made soup for a while, I think i should try your recipe!
Thanks for sharing!
awesome — I'm so excited for fall soup season!!
Your recipe came right in time. We had a light frost last night! Gotta harvest whatever's left in the garden today. I like to make a vegetable pot pie with a cheese sauce substituted for the gravy.
Jane
This goes along with what I have up for the day. YUMMY>>>
This one is a keeper! I have copied it to my computer for future use. Thanks for sharing it.
Jane
I love Minestrone sop, I think it's because It has so many veggies in it. THANKS!!! for the recipe. Geri
Great recipe.
In an effort to reduce heat in the house and electric use, I've found if I bring the contents to a boil, put on a lid, and turn off the heat leaving the pot on the burner whatever I'm cooking cooks in just about the same time.
For example, Potatoes quartered will be done in 20 min, spaghetti will be done 12 min. If something contains meat,chix I half cook that before adding and then turning off the heat.
I love a recipe that has a lot of beans in it.
Your recipe sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Carolyn/A Southerners Notebook
I love making soup as the weather cools off! Yum.
Looks wonderful. Thanks for the recipe and linking to TMTT.