Minestone Soup

We were invited out for dinner & my friend, Rosemary, served this Minestone Soup. it was so delicious I asked her for the recipe & if I could put this recipe on my blog. She said ok so here it is!

This soup is a bit different from the usual one I make. There is an addition of peas which add a sweetness to the soup, turnip & lima beans instead of kidney beans….& a few other different additions.
The list of ingredients is quite long, but don’t let that discourage you!!!!

All of the vegetables & cooked in the soup pot before adding the liquids so once that is done, the recipe says to simmer the soup for about 40 minutes & its done. But… I kept my pot of soup on the stove on a low simmer for a long time…at least 1 1/2 hours..so if you have the time let it simmer away but if not when the pasta is cooked after it is added this soup will be finished.

This is a very delicious vegetarian / vegan soup that is very satisfying.

Here is the recipe….thanks to Rosemary Kitay

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 potatoes, diced

2 carrots, diced

1/2 small cabbage, sliced

1 turnip, peeled & diced

1 leek, cleaned, trimmed & sliced….optional because I did not have a leek…( mu grocery store did not have any!!)

3 celery sticks, sliced or diced

1 parsnip, peeled & diced

3 tsp salt

pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp dried parsley or 1 tbsp fresh parsley

1 large can of diced tomatoes

8 cups of vegetable stock, this is suppose to be hot… I used hot water….no stock ( I did not have any)

1 can lima beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup frozen peas

a handfull of spaghetti…..

Method 

1. Prepare all of the ingredients so that they are ready to add to the pot in step 1 & 2
2. In a large soup pot/saucepan, saute the onion & garlic in the oil for a few minutes until the onion becomes translucent… stir often
3. Once the onion/garlic is ready add the carrots, celery & parsnips, cook for a bit then add the  diced potatoes, & leek if you are using one…Next I added the sliced cabbage…Mix everything together really well & cook for about 10 minutes…you want the vegetables to soften since this soup is not boiled for a long time..
4. Add the spices…the salt, pepper, oregano, basil, sugar & parsley, mix well
5. Add the tomatoes, mix well
6. Add the vegetable stock… the recipe says this should be hot when it is aded… I used some hot water…I did not have any vegetable stock in the house so just used hot water… Mix well
7. Add the drained beans
8. Simmer for about 30 minutes
9. Now, take your handful of spaghetti & break it into 3…then add this broken spaghetti to the soup
10. Add the peas now
11. Cook for about 10 minutes until the spaghetti is cooked. Now your soup is done!!

Enjoy!