Thick and Hearty Minestrone Soup
Source: Gina Mendolo
Ingredients:
* 1 T olive oil
* 1 small onion, finely diced
* 1 T shallots, diced
* 1 – 2 ribs celery diced
* 1 cup zucchini, shredded or grated
* 2 T parsley, chopped (I used dried because it was dark and I didn’t feel like going out to the back in the dark for fresh.)
* 2 T basil, chopped (Again, I used dried because it was dark and I didn’t feel like going out to the back in the dark for fresh.)
* 1 small sprig rosemary
* 1 pint tomatoes (Whole, diced or milled smooth – whatever your texture preference. I am not big on texture so I milled mine into a smooth sauce.)
* 3 cups cannelloni beans (or kidney beans or even garbanzo beans), cooked or canned
* 1 t salt (You may need to use more if you are using cooked beans, rather than canned.)
* 5 cups vegetable stock
* 1 – 2 carrots, sliced into “coins”
* 4 ounces orzo pasta
Directions:
1. Saute the onion, shallots, celery, zucchini, parsley, basil, and rosemary in the olive oil until soft (between 5 and 10 minutes).
2. Add in the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. If using whole tomatoes, use a spoon to break up the tomatoes into more edible chunks.
3. While the soup base is simmering (above) use a food processor to puree or a potato masher to mash one half (1.5 cups) of the beans into a paste.
4. After the five minutes of simmering, stir in the bean puree, the whole beans, the salt, and the vegetable stock.
5. Simmer strongly, uncovered, for 20 minutes. (Bonus: your house will smell fantastic after this step.)
6. Stir in the carrots and the orzo and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Taste test the soup for salt and to make sure the carrots and pasta have cooked to your desired tenderness.
8. Remove the rosemary sprig.
9. Serve hot (With shaved Parmesan cheese curls on top if you are feeling fancy).
Note: This recipe made enough for four good sized bowls of soup. Next time I think I’ll triple it to make enough to freeze.