Few dishes are more comforting than a piping hot bowl of soup during the chilly months. I love making soups and stews; not only are they almost completely foolproof, they are also easily customizable. Whatever leftover veggies are in the fridge can be tossed into a pot and transformed into a hearty meal – it’s awesome.
For this minestrone I used Pomi brand boxed tomatoes because I love the flavor as well as the fact that they are not cooked with salt. One box of Pomi tomatoes is about the same as two 14oz cans, and you can substitute accordingly. Keep in mind that you may want to tweak the salt in the recipe if your canned tomatoes contain sodium. Also feel free to use more pasta. I choose to go fairly light to focus on the vegetables and keep the calorie count low.
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups stock
- 1 28oz carton chopped tomatoes (or 2 14oz cans)
- 1 can cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (adjust depending on the sodium content of your stock and tomatoes)
- 1 sprig of rosemary, stem removed and leaves minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup small, dry pasta (I used cavatelli)
- 2 cups kale, chopped (or other green of choice)
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- In a deep soup pan heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook until onions are slightly translucent – about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes.
- Add stock, tomatoes, and all of your seasonings. Bring soup just to boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Add pasta and kale, cooking for another 10-12 minutes (or however long your pasta needs to cook based on package instructions).
- Just before serving stir in fresh parsley.
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- Cut olive bread into 1 inch pieces and toss with a small amount of olive oil to coat. Spread onto a nonstick baking sheet and put into a 400F oven for about 15 minutes or until the croutons are dry and crunchy.
