The very best minestrone ever! A huge success with the family and guests. Add more tomato paste for a thicker, more stewlike minestrone. I also added a can of green beans, used kidney instead of cannellini beans, and used shredded spinach instead of cabbage. If you can find flavored macaroni, such as garlic or roasted pepper, it will inhance the flavor. Also, the parmesan truly inhances the flavor, and is not to be left out! Enjoy!
Delicious and so easy! I used Swanson's organic chicken broth and a tomato paste w/ italian seasoning. I also used a good 2 T of the tomato paste. My husband wanted twice the noodles so against my better judgement I added 1 c and as I suspected the soup ended up pretty thick by the time the noodles were done - it's kind of like a chowder now! Also, the noodles are a bit overcooked and gluey. Next time I'll cook the noodles separately and add them to the soup so the soup maintains more of its liquid. Will definitely make this again. UPDATE: I froze about a quart of this for about 6 mos and it held up great and still tasted good!
FANTASTIC!! Instead of using regular chicken broth, I first roasted the Christmas day turkey bones, then boiled them in water for an hour with a couple of carrots, an onion, a few bay leaves and some pepper corns, to make a rich delicious broth. I also added some left-over turkey meat, and used a can of kidney beans. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. The result was amazing - a rich, tasty hearty soup, just perfect for a Winter day. I will definitely be making this again! (3.17.06 This recipe has gradually evolved into an 'Everything but the kitchen sink' kind of soup - it's great for using up all those sad-looking veggies that take up fridge space, those 90% empty boxes of pasta in the cupboard, and the half can of whatever beans you didn't use. It doesn't matter what you use, it always tastes great!)
I made this recipe and admittedly tweaked it quite a lot. However, I do think I came up with something very similar to the submitter’s version. I used olive oil instead of margarine and only one T. not four. I increased the celery to a generous 1/2 cup and bumped the carrots up to about 3/4 cup. I thought the amount of cabbage was negligible, and I didn’t have it anyway, so I left that out. I used diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, and instead of potatoes, I used a combination of zucchini and yellow squash. Lastly I subbed ditalini pasta for the elbows. As for the process, I tweaked that a bit as well. I sautéed the onion, celery and carrots for about 5 minutes, adding the garlic during the final 30 seconds. I then added the other ingredients, except for the beans and pasta. I gently simmered for 30 minutes, which was probably a bit too long. I would cut that back to 10-15 minutes next time, so the zucchini won’t be overcooked. I cooked my pasta separately and added it along with the beans and some fresh basil and just heated it through. Garnished with fresh parsley. My result was a delicious, veggie-packed soup that was low in fat and calories, but very satisfying!! We loved it!! UPDATE 3/26/13: I made this again as before but this time threw in some coarsely chopped fresh spinach at the very end, which was a very nice addition.
This is very good. I subsituted kidney beans for cannelini beans and a tablespoon of ketchup for the tomato paste. The sprinkling of parmesan is important; I thought the plain soup needed more salt but that is okay. I will definitely make this again.
This soup is the best! A big time saver is to chop the carrots celery and onions in a food mill and then sautee. I added one teaspoon of basil and one of origano and Italian stewed tomatoes already seasoned with herbs. I cut back on the potatoes and pasta added one zuccinni and some fresh string beans. Had it for dinner with freshly made garlic bread toasted. Don't forget the parmison cheese. My husband really loved it and so did I.
This recipe is delicious! I sauteed some chopped bacon first until it was a little crispy drained off all but 2 tbsp. of bacon fat and sauteed the vegetables in that and added the bacon back into the soup at the end. Thanks for submitting the recipe it's DELICIOUS!!!!!
Pretty good. I missed the green beans, zucchini, and kidney beans I usually see in minestrone, so next time I'd add them. I'd also add other Italian herbs in addition to parsley. This recipe is versatile enough to handle some subs and still come out great. My subs were navy beans instead of cannellini, celery root instead of celery, and chard instead of cabbage. I also used only half the salt called for, and used whole wheat shells instead of elbow macaroni. I find that whole wheat pasta holds up better in the leftover soup.
My husband asked for Minestroni soup for dinner and I found this recipe. Wonderful. I had everything on hand except I used fresh parsley and petite diced tomatoes. My kids ate it all up hence the 5 star rating. Thanks!
