Minestrone ( Italian, vegetarian, dairy-free soup)

Colorful, flavorful and filled with nutrients, made with pantry & frozen items, this hearty soup will come to your rescue on every "I-don't-know-what-to-cook" night.

Prep Time720

Cook Time480

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Flavorful, Hearty

Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 stacks celeri, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
Instead of the 3 vegetables above, you may use frozen mirepoix.
1 L of chicken broth, or vegetable broth or hot water, if you don't have broth
800 g diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
800 g cooked beans, red or white, or a mix of both. Canned beans work if you're not following SCD. For SCD, use frozen/a leftover of soaked and cooked beans.
454 g pasta optional (if you're not strictly SCD, lentils pasta, or wheat pasta)
Any combination of the following :
1 handful frozen green beans or fresh, broken into bite-size pieces
1 handful baby spinach or kale, minced
2-3 zucchini peeled and cubed
1 tsp of dried thyme and/or sage
1-3 bay leaves to taste
A pinch of Kashmiri powder or any other ground chili (optional)
Vegan parmesan or freshly grated parmesan if you do dairy (optional)
1 lemon juice (optional)

Instructions

If you're planning to add some pasta, boil the water now in a separate pot.
In a large cast-iron or stainless steel pot, sauté the onion, carrots and celery until tender ( or until the frozen vegetables have lost all their water and start to stick at the bottom of the pot.)
Add tomatoes, broth or water, green beans, herbs, and Kashmiri, if using.
bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 5'.
Add the navy/kidney/butter beans, and zuchini, and simmer for 10 more minutes.
Cook the pasta now if you're using any. When they're ready, drain and rinse thoroughly.
Add kale or baby spinach to the soup, cover with a lid, and turn off the heat.
Leave it for 5-7', until spinach/kale have wilted.
In the meantime, drain and rinse the pasta thoroughly to remove all starch ( this will keep them al dente, and not sticky). They will re-heat naturally once put into the hot soup.
Turn off the heat. Add lemon juice if using, and give it a good stir.
Ready ! Laddle the soup into bowls. Add the pasta and top with parmesan, if using. Add some salt and pepper in the bowls (to taste).
Enjoy :-)

Notes

If you have leftovers, feel free to reheat or freeze them.

To thaw/reheat, use low heat, and turn the heat off as soon as you see some steam (not to overcook the vegetables - they'd be mushy).