Minestrone soup

Let me start this post by saying that I love soup.  Absolutely love it. I could eat soup each and every day of the year.  The only thing that weirds me out is a cold soup. Gazpacho. Vichyssoise.  Ugh.  Now don't get me wrong - if you took those same soups and served them to me hot I'd have no complaints.  But I guess I'm a bit unusual in that even when it's 100 degrees outside I still love a good hot bowl of soup.

So that brings me to this recipe.  It's July and it's in the 90s but to me hot soup is heaven.  With my surplus of squash I decided that minestrone would make it into the rotation.  I've made minestrone many times and what I like is that like some other dishes - chili, lasagna, etc. - it's more of a method than a recipe.  You throw in what you like and what you have until it's delicious.  So my recipe below should be seen as more of a suggestion than anything.  I tend to err on the side of plentiful veggies and go light on the pasta and beans but if you love the pasta and beans, by all means, change up the proportions.

Ingredients

2-3 pieces center cut bacon (I use center cut because it's real bacon but has 40% less fat than regular bacon)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, small diced (I used a small package of baby carrots)

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 of a large zucchini (or all of a small one), diced

1/2 of a large yellow squash (or all of a small one), diced

1 cup chopped cabbage (I was lazy and bought pre-chopped cabbage this time - see pic below)

3-4 tomatoes, chopped (or you can use a can of diced tomatoes)
Parmesan cheese rind (optional)

1/4 cup dry pasta of your choice (I used whole wheat elbow macaroni)

1/2 to 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas (or the bean of your choice)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Around 1 cup of chopped fresh spinach leaves

2-3 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

1 sprig of oregano (if you only have dried, use around 1/2 teaspoon and add more to taste)

1/2 cup chopped basil leaves (if you only have dried, use around a teaspoon and add more to taste)

1 cup vegetable broth

2 cups chicken broth (keep more around in case you need to add more as the soup thickens)

1/2 cup dry red wine

1 small can tomato paste (I used 2 tablespoons of the double thick kind in the tube)

Salt and pepper

Red pepper flakes (optional)
Parmesan cheese

Cook the bacon pieces in a dutch oven or stock pot.  Once they are nice and crunchy, remove them and keep them on a paper towel lined plate.  Throw the onion, celery, squash, zucchini, cabbage, and carrots into the pan and cook them.

Yay for veggies!

Normally I buy a whole cabbage for recipes but this time I decided to be lazy and instead opted to buy the pre-shredded kind.  I figure I'll use it for other recipes too.

Does anyone have ideas for other recipes where I can use this up?  Besides coleslaw, obviously.

Saute the veggies on medium heat until they begin to soften, 5-6 minutes.  Add the garlic. Break up the bacon into little pieces and sprinkle it back in to the pot.

At this point, go ahead and add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, vegetable and chicken broth, bay leaves, thyme, and oregano.  If you happen to have the rind from a hunk of Parmesan cheese, add it now.  I didn't have one at home and couldn't find one at the store but I've heard it adds amazing depth of flavor.


Let the pot come to a simmer and turn it down to medium/low.  Let it continue to simmer on low, stirring occasionally.  Basically let it cook until the veggies have tenderized to your liking. This could take 30-60 minutes.  Continue to add chicken broth if the soup thickens too much.  Close to the end of cooking, add in your pasta and chick peas (or whatever beans you are using).  Cook until the pasta is softened.  At this point, add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.  Remove the bay leaves, oregano, and thyme (if you used whole sprigs of oregano and thyme like I did).  Stir in your chopped basil and chopped spinach.  Cook about 1 minute, or until spinach wilts.  Serve immediately.  Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the soup and serve with warm bread.

I should note that you can also make this soup completely vegetarian by omitting the bacon and chicken broth.  You can also amp up the meat aspect by adding sausage, but I think that really puts meat too much in the forefront.  In my eyes, this is more of a veggie forward soup.

I also should mention that I happened to have fresh oregano and basil in my garden, and fresh bay leaves and thyme sprigs in my fridge. If you don't have a garden, or are making this in the dead of winter and don't feel like buying a bunch of the little fresh herb containers, by all means, use dried herbs in this recipe. But I will say to make sure your herb jars aren't more than a year old.  Italian herbs like these can really start to smell and taste like nothing at all once they get too old.