Hmmm Minestrone!...
Tonight I made a batch of homemade minestrone soup. Most of the recipes I've seen for it have left out anything that required any kind of animal biproduct (unless you add parmasean cheese to it, but that's usually a personal choice).
This is good for two reasons...1. Sean's cholesterol issue and 2. I'll be feeding our Vegan headliner at Samhain. Minestrone is a hearty filling soup and depending on how you make it, not terribly expensive to make.
I found a recipe online but I modified it slightly to fit what we had available but I didn't have to stray too far from the recipe. In the future I may leave out the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. It was slightly more tomato-y than I like.
So...here we go:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (or about 15 baby carrots halved)
1/2 a green or red pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic
8 cups water
2 beef bouillion cubes
4 chicken bouillion cubes (Note: most recipes call for veggie broth, I had none, so I improvised)
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
3 bay leaves
salt/pepper to taste
1 can of diced tomatoes (w/juice)
1 can of beans, drained (I used chick peas because it's what I had available but kidney beans would work well also)
1 small zuccini diced
1/4 box of penne (or other pasta of your choosing)
1/2 a cup of frozen spinach
Saute the onion, carrots, pepper and garlic on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add everything but the zuccini, pasta and spinach. Bring to a boil, add zuccini and pasta. Add the spinach and turn off the heat. Stir the soup until all the spinach has been thawed and separated.
**Note: The pasta will absorb most of the broth if you cook it in the soup. Some people like that, some don't. If you're one that doesn't, cook the pasta in a separate pot and add it to the bowl when you ladle the soup.**
This is good for two reasons...1. Sean's cholesterol issue and 2. I'll be feeding our Vegan headliner at Samhain. Minestrone is a hearty filling soup and depending on how you make it, not terribly expensive to make.
I found a recipe online but I modified it slightly to fit what we had available but I didn't have to stray too far from the recipe. In the future I may leave out the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. It was slightly more tomato-y than I like.
So...here we go:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (or about 15 baby carrots halved)
1/2 a green or red pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic
8 cups water
2 beef bouillion cubes
4 chicken bouillion cubes (Note: most recipes call for veggie broth, I had none, so I improvised)
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
3 bay leaves
salt/pepper to taste
1 can of diced tomatoes (w/juice)
1 can of beans, drained (I used chick peas because it's what I had available but kidney beans would work well also)
1 small zuccini diced
1/4 box of penne (or other pasta of your choosing)
1/2 a cup of frozen spinach
Saute the onion, carrots, pepper and garlic on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add everything but the zuccini, pasta and spinach. Bring to a boil, add zuccini and pasta. Add the spinach and turn off the heat. Stir the soup until all the spinach has been thawed and separated.
**Note: The pasta will absorb most of the broth if you cook it in the soup. Some people like that, some don't. If you're one that doesn't, cook the pasta in a separate pot and add it to the bowl when you ladle the soup.**