MONDAY RECIPE POST - TUSCAN MINESTRONE - new post

We eat a lot of soups once the weather starts getting chilly.  Here is another one you may like to try.

I made it for the first time on Friday, February 20th, 2015 (from my archives).  It had been bitterly cold and definitely a day for a hot bowl of comforting soup.  I found the recipe at "Never Enough Thyme", hosted by Lana.  The original recipe can be found here.

Tuscan Minestrone

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 celery rib, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups shredded green cabbage
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cups vegetable stock
28 oz. canned diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 bay leaf
1 Parmesan rind (optional)
1 small zucchini, diced
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 lb. tender green beans, trimmed and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
1/4 lb. small shell shaped pasta
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

Prepare all your ingredients.

Peel and chop up your veggies and have it ready and waiting, measuring out the pasta and even opening up the cans.  I also grate the Parmesan cheese ahead of time and refrigerating until I am ready to put the meal together.

Prepare the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, cabbage, parsley and basil and set aside.

In a large stock pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic.

Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes or until the onion is translucent.

Add the cabbage and cook, stirring, for 1 additional minute.

Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, parsley, basil, Italian seasoning, bay leaf and if you are using it, the Parmesan rind.

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes.

Add the zucchini, garbanzo beans and green beans and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind.

While the soup simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, and cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Drain.

Add the cooked pasta to the soup pot and season the soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Don't forget to throw out the bay leaf

Serve immediately.

Pass the grated Parmesan separately.

An excellent soup and I made a few changes.

At the time I had no fresh sweet basil but did have the dried in the pantry, which I used instead, adding a good heaping tablespoon.  Put in as much or as little to suit your own taste.

I had a bag of frozen sliced okra in the freezer, and wanting to use what I had in stock, I substituted the okra for the zucchini.  I think I would have preferred the zucchini, but you never know until you try, and my Dear Other Half preferred the okra.

The flavor of the broth was especially delicious, and I am wondering if it was because of the Parmigiano-Reggiano rind that I used.  

When I had added the okra, garbanzo beans and green beans, after cooking them for the additional ten minutes, the green beans were still not cooked enough for our tastes.  I added on 15 more minutes and they were perfect.

There was a lot of prep work in this meal but I start early in the day, covered the chopped veggies until ready to prepare.  It seems less of an effort that way.

We served this with a crusty loaf called Rustic Batard and is our current favorite.  It was a very nice accompaniment to this soup.

Thanks for looking and enjoy your day!