Hearty Minestrone

Chula King

Hearty Minestrone is a healthy soup that chocked full of delicious vegetables. It's comfort food at its best in the cold winter months, but equally satisfying when things warm up. Hearty Minestrone is easy to make, freezes well, and makes terrific leftovers.

5 from 8 votes

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Prep Time 25

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 25

Course Soup

Cuisine Italian

Servings servings

Calories 216 kcal

Equipment

Dutch Oven

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups sliced celery (See Tip 1)
1 ¾ cups chopped onions (1 large onion)
½ teaspoon dried thyme
4 cloves garlic, minced
28 ounce can petit diced tomatoes with the juice
6 cups low sodium chicken broth (See Tip 2)
1 ¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ½ cups diced zucchini
15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup ditalini or other small pasta, cooked al dente, drained and rinsed
½ cup dry white wine, optional
5 ounces baby spinach leaves
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots; sauté 5 minutes. Add celery; stir to combine and continue sautéing 5 minutes. Add onions; stir to combine and continue sautéing 5 additional minutes.
Add the thyme and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and cover. Simmer 20 minutes. Add the zucchini. Cover and continue to simmer 15 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender. May be made in advance up to this point.
Add the beans, cooked pasta and wine. Heat 5 minutes. (See Tip 3)
Add the spinach; cook just until the spinach leaves are wilted.
Correct the seasonings.
If desired, serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Yield: 8 servings.

Video

Tips/Notes

If your celery is too fibrous, it will take significantly longer to cook until it's tender. To judge whether the celery is fibrous, run your finger back and forth on the celery stalk. The rougher it is, the more fibrous it is. Look for smooth celery.
To make this vegetarian, use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth.
If soup is too thick, add more chicken broth to desired consistency.

Nutrition

Calories: 216kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 11gFat: 5gSodium: 869mgPotassium: 901mgFiber: 7gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 7410IUVitamin C: 27.2mgCalcium: 134mgIron: 3.9mg

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