Hearty Minestrone
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.
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 216kcal
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
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: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Sodium: 869mg | Potassium: 901mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 7410IU | Vitamin C: 27.2mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 3.9mg
