Minestrone Soup
Noodles and potatoes IN THE SAME BOWL?! This is the kind of stuff (my) dreams are made of. Minestrone is a hearty veggie soup, perfect for snow days. Today, it snowed as hard as it’s snowed since the ’70’s. At one point 12 cm fell within one hour! Plus, let’s be real. It’s winter, the day before last it was -40 C. We need both potatoes and noodles for dinner. How many more sleeps ’til spring?
Minestrone Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 medium carrots peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 2 potatoes diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes adjust to taste
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 bay leaf optional
- 1 can crushed tomatoes 796 ml / 28 fl oz
- 5 cups water use vegetable broth if you prefer, but reduce added salt.
- 1-2 tsp sea salt IMPORTANT if you are using water, and not veggie broth (which is loaded with salt) you need to add salt, otherwise your soup will be bland.
- 1 cup small pasta e.g. elbow pasta or small spiral.
- 1 can lentils 540 ml / 19 oz can (substitute with kidney or cannellini beans, if you prefer) Drain and rinse well.
- 2 tsp red wine vinegar
- squeeze of lemon to taste
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, parsley, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to turn golden, 5 to 8 minutes.
- Add potato, garlic and bay leaf. Cook for about 30 seconds until garlic begins to turn golden. Add tomatoes and water and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and cook until potatoes are tender.
- Stir in the pasta and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add canned lentils (or beans), red wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Stir in remaining pepper and adjust salt, to taste.
Minestrone Recipe Notes
This minestrone soup recipe begins with something that closely resembles a mirepoix. Mirepoix (pronounced meer-pwah is a long-standing cooking technique in French cuisine that adds a certain je ne sais quoi to a dish. It’s often the base for flavoring soups, stews and casseroles. Diced vegetables, usually onion, celery and carrot, are cooked, usually with oil, and can be credited for making foods taste so good.
This recipe is pretty simple to make, and the leftovers make for great lunches. In fact, this soup often tastes better the next day, sometimes turning into a thick stew, depending on the noodles and potatoes.
Minestrone typically includes lots of leafy greens, like spinach. If you have some on hand, toss in a few handfuls! As for the other veggies and beans, use what you have on hand, this soup is super flexible.
If you are cooking for littles, take it easy on the red pepper flakes. Looking for some heat? Increase carefully to taste. These bad boys get spicier as they are heated.
In lieu of using veggie broth, I use water. This is a personal choice because truth be told, I really can’t stand the smell of broth! It has its place, and I’ll use it sometimes, but not today. Store bought broth, even the low sodium variety, 820 mg of sodium, that’s 36% of the daily value intake. When omitting store bought broth, you need to add in a bit more salt. Consider also that you are cooking the potatoes and pasta straight into the soup, ingredients that are normally prepared using heavily salted water.