Classic Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup is all one could want – nutritious, flavourful, vegetable-loaded, healthy, satisfying, quick to make and above all soothing. Traditionally, it has been made as an Italian soup to use the leftover vegetables and the choices are many to use the vegetables of liking. This is one of my personal favourite and regular at @thesoupspoon Singapore. Tried creating their goodness at home with this easy recipe – the best part is you can add whatever veggies you like, the only things you must add are – a good pasta, beans, fresh greens and diced tomato.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked macaroni – small sized and use gluten free if needed
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped beans
½ cup chopped bottle gourd (as a replacement of potato)
½ cup peas
1 cup fresh greens – baby spinach or kale
1 cup boiled red kidney beans
1/2 cup diced zucchini
1 tbsp oregano / italian seasoning
Salt, to taste
White pepper powder, to taste
5 cups vegetable broth – freshly made or stored or veg stock made
1 cup water
1/4 cup tomato puree
1 cup diced tomato or cherry tomato – boiled, peeled and mashed gently with hand or spoon (allow liquid to come)
1-2 bay leaf
8-10 fresh basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp red chili flakes

Procedure:

In a pot, add oil and warm it. Add bay leaves, garlic and onion and sauté until fragrance starts coming
Add carrot & beans and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add all the remaining vegetables and salt and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes
Add tomato paste and cook for a minute, followed by diced tomatoes, broth and water
Add all the spcies – salt, pepper, chili flakes and Italian seasoning and let it come to a boil
Now add boiled pasta, basil leaves, greens and boiled kidney beans to it and let it cook for another 5-7 minutes. Don’t overcook that vegetables lose their good crunch or greens become too blanched
Add lemon juice to it
Serve hot with grated cheese on top, if you like