Very good basic recipe. I have two suggestions. First I found you couldn't taste the garlic and onion. Next time I sauteed them before throwing them in. Second, the pasta soaks up all the broth especially if you have any leftovers. I would add the pasta to each bowl as served.
I want to make this for a Lenten soup supper this week so I decided,to try it this evening. I didn't have time for the slow cooker so I just made it in a large pot, I read the comments before I began. My critical husband & a visiting family friend thought it was delicious & to be added to our family staples. To make the most of the favors in the ingredients I added things differently than given for the slow cooker. First I sautéed the garlic & onion in about a tablespoon of olive oil. I added the celery to this, then the crushed tomatoes; while these simmered, I added the carrots. We have a deck garden of fresh herbs so I used them + dried for those I didn't have. To the tomato mixture I added about 1-T-fresh Oregano, the dried thyme, black pepper, fresh parsley, & fresh spinach. When this began to boil I added the vegetable broth, kidney beans, & remaining vegetables. When these came to a slow boil, I added the macaroni using varied vegi colored elbow macaroni & salt. When the pasta was cooked, we ate. We topped the soup with the Parmesan as described & it was fantastic. The favors were perfect for us.
Used this recipes on stovetop with a very low burner. It came out very tastey.
Needs a little kick for my liking, however it's a great recipe. I normally don't review recipes if I make a change but the changes I made were after the soup was almost done. As another reviewer stated, there wasn't enough liquid to support the elbows so I keep them separate. Put them in the bowls then ladled the soup over. Also added the green Tabasco. Perfect! There is a review that says the recipe is unsafe because the kidney beans need to be cooked first. I wanted to point out that the recipe calls for canned kidney beans which are completely cooked before canning! Duh. Enjoy the soup everyone.
I've made this recipe twice already and it's quickly becoming a favorite to my girls that don't eat meat. I haven't found a need to change anything as it's great just the way it is. Thanks for sharing!
Very good basic veggie minestrone soup recipe. Add more veggies, chicken broth or “clean out your fridge”’with this one...so versatile. But please don’t give this a negative review because there’s not enough green chipotle jalapeño Tabasco spicy spice for your taste because this is MINESTRONE, not southwest chipotle bean soup! I don’t believe this soup is a good candidate for a slower cooker tho. Definitely don’t need that much time. You can throw this together in under 30 min on the stove top. Why would anyone want to cook fresh veggies and pasta for 6-8 hours?! You’d have a big over cooked pot of mush...just sauté onions, garlic, celery, carrots in a couple TBLS of good olive oil, throw in your tomatoes, stir around for a couple minutes, add a couple small unpeeled cubed red potatoes, pasta, beans, broth,seasonings...everyone in the pot!...and cook at a medium boil for 15 min. Check for salt & pepper and That’s it! Delicious bowl of soup!
I'm not a vegetarian but I liked this soup. This is one slow cooker recipe that I will make again (and there aren't many). Tasty and nutritious.
Frankly I am shocked that something this easy to make can be so darn delicious. I'm so glad I made a huge batch so I could freeze the rest and have some later. Even better the next day.
I prepared this soup for a Valentine's banquet at church as a last minute vegetarian main dish. It smells wonderful and tastes even better. It is so delicious that I just had to have a bowl for breakfast. I made two loaves of crusty french bread for dipping to go along beside it. It is definitely going to be a repeat recipe.
