I decided that I would post my minestrone soup recipe to go along with the bread recipe. A lot of Stewies have been talking about the cold weather and this is my favorite cold weather soup- perfect to go along with a loaf of fresh bread. 2 tablespoons/ 30 ml olive oil 2 large onions, chopped 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 large carrot, diced 1 medium zucchini or eggplant, diced salt to taste (I like sea salt) fresh oregano to taste fresh black pepper to taste fresh basil to taste 1 small bok choy, diced 1 medium bell pepper, diced 4 cups/ 1000ml of vegetable or chicken stock 28 ounces/ 794 grams of tomato sauce 1 cup/ 250 grams of cannolini beans (or any other soup bean that you like. If they are dried beans, soak overnight and then drain before adding to the soup. If they are canned, drain and rinse before adding to your soup) 1 cup/ 250 grams of dried small pasta (any shape as long as it is small. Alphabet pasta is fun.) 2 medium tomatoes, diced or you can add 1 can (14 1/2 oz/ 411 grams) diced tomatoes fresh parsley to taste 1 piece of cheese rind- like a rind from a chunk of parmesan (this is my secret ingredient. Note- never throw away the rind to a cheese. You can add them to sauce, stews, soups for flavor. Just remove and discard the rind prior to serving) Freshly grated Parmesan cheese Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add onion, garlic, a pinch of salt and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, eggplant or zucchini, oregano, black pepper and basil. Cook over low heat, stirring whenever you think of it for about 10 minutes. Add the bok choy, pepper, stock and tomato sauce, simmer another 10 minutes. (Each 10 minute break can be used to put some music on, pour another glass of wine, go pick some more herbs from your garden- just stir when you return to the kitchen.) Now add the beans, tomatoes, pasta and cheese rind. Keep simmering until your pasta and beans are tender. You can't mess this up, just simmer away, occasionally stir. I like for mine to have simmered for about an hour. Taste and add more spice as necessary. Remove the rind before serving and top soup with fresh parsley and Parmesan. You can use whatever veggies you like in this. Add and take away to your heart's delight. It's a good recipe for using up veggies.
Thanks for this recipe. It looks positively delicious. I don't eat alot of soups, but this one I like very much. I can almosty imagine the flavour. Some of those herbs come right out of your own garden, don't they?
Thanks for the recipe. I think I could get the zucchini and bok choy past my families 'weird vegie radar'.
Sjoerd, this is what my youngest called "stoup" not a watery soup, not a stew. It is a rich soup, very flavorful. And yes, the herbs come straight out of my garden. I always wind up taking the 10 minute intervals to snip a few more. I have added rosemary to this soup as well- not too much, rosemary can be overpowering. Toni, this soup is a great way to slip veggies past unsuspecting family members. Your post made me laugh at a memory. My youngest daughter hated carrots- raw, cooked, anything that resembled a carrot. So my sons convinced her to try one piece of a carrot and then held up their hands as if blinded. They had told her that carrots were good for eyesight. She ate a piece of one and glared at them and asked if they could see a difference. They told her her eyes were very bright. So from then on, she would eat carrots and crow about how "shiny" her eyes were- her sisters and brothers would pretend to be blinded and hold up their hands. No matter what vegetable they disliked, if I "hid" it in a soup or pasta sauce, I was able to slip many vegetables past my unsuspecting children. They laugh about it now.
