Minestrone

A friend shared some of this soup with me the other day. It was spectacular! Since it is the end of the gardening season for us, we eat a lot of soups in the fall to help clean things out. Minestrone is a good versatile soup cuz you can add or subract almost anything you want.

In general, my kids will eat anything. They had a hard time with the spinach in this soup. I think next time I make it, I will use fresh spinach and chop it up more so its not so clumpy and stringy in the soup. It didnt bother me, but they were irritated that it kept falling off their spoons.

The original recipe (and the picture) are found here


This is my version:
8 cups chicken stock
2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced and save all juices
2 cups dried beans - rinsed in hot water. I used black and white beans
1 cup chopped carrots
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup uncooked pasta (I used whole wheat shells)
1 cup fresh grated zuchinni
1 cup fresh diced yellow squash

I rinsed my beans in hot water and soaked them overnight before I used them in this dish.
If you are using any variety of red beans, YOU MUST do a rapid-boil to kill a possible toxin that occurs naturally in red beans.

Add everything to the crock pot, cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until the beans are soft. Add dry pasta, and cook on high for about 30 minutes.

Serve with bread sticks and enjoy!