Hearty Minestrone Soup

 

From: The Illustrated Quick Cook

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbls Olive Oil
2 Onions, finely chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
4 Celery Ribs, finely chopped
4 Carrots, finely chopped
9 oz pancetta, cut in small cubes
Handful Flat Parsley, finely chopped
Handful Fresh Sage, finely chopped
2 Tbls Tomato Paste
1 Can Chopped Tomatoes (28 oz)
2 Can cannelloni beans (14 oz each) rinsed and drained well
2 Cup Chicken Broth
10 oz Frozen Green Beans
8 oz Frozen Peas
10 oz Small pasta shapes

DIRECTIONS

Use a pot large enough to hold everything.
Heat the oil
Add onions cook 6-8 min
Add garlic, celery and carrots cook 10 minutes
Add pancetta, cook 5 minutes or until brown
Add herbs, tomato paste & canned beans. Season w/ salt and pepper
Add stock, bring to a boil then cover w/ lid and simmer for 35 minutes
Add Green beans and peas cook for additional 5 minutes
Let cool completely before transferring to freezer safe container
Freezes 3 months
To serve, defrost overnight in fridge then transfer to large sauce pan. Add pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked to your liking. Top with parmesan.

Few things to add with this one. See all that ‘finely chopped’ stuff? The Pampered Chef Food Chopper is a MUST have. We flew through the prep and had this simmering away in minimal time, with all of our fingers in tact.

What are cannelloni beans? They are white beans in cans, quite popular. Sound it out while looking at the canned beans section you will find them! The recipe actually called for borlotti or cranberry beans, but my small town food store didn’t carry them. So I went with what I knew to have neutral flavor with enough meat to hold up to a soup.

Also, frozen peas and green beans don’t come in 8 or 10 oz so I got the closest I could and used the whole bag. It’s ok. It just made the soup chunkier with nutritious goods like veggies!