Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

First - let me start by announcing the winner of Lidia's Favourite Recipes!   

suburban prep

Congratulations!  I'll be contacting you right away.

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Today's post is also about an Italian recipe: minestrone soup.  All it took was seeing minestrone soup a couple of times on various blogs and some cold weather and I found myself with a serious craving.  I decided to make it when my parents came for a visit, last week.  

Thinking about this soup and having to make several meals for 6+ people (Actor Boy and his friend were in town too) inspired me to menu plan for the whole week.  I knew organization would be critical since making quick trips to the grocery store can be a big production with a baby in the winter (or any time of year).  I was so proud of myself, I even e-mailed this photo to Giz with the caption: Guess who is finished grocery shopping at 9am on a Saturday!

Okay -- maybe it's not that miraculous.  But we're usually Sunday night shoppers, just before the store closes, when the shelves are getting sparse.   Plus, I get excited about being able to do chores since most of my time goes to Ms. E.  Yup -- you know you're the life of the party when you get excited about being able to do household chores.

Anyway -- all that to say.  This recipe was a hit!  I'm already planning to make it again.

Vegetarian Minestrone Soup

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 cups water (I used 1L of vegetable broth)
2 cups diced zucchini (I used 3 medium)
1 cup diced carrot, peeled
1 cup canned cannellini beans or 1 cup you may use other white beans
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
28 fluid ounces canned plum tomatoes, dice and include liquid
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup uncooked ditalini or 1/4 cup elbow macaroni (used 1/2 of ditalini and may use more in the future)

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add chopped onion, carrots and celery and sauté for 4 minutes or until just lightly browned.  

Add water/broth, zucchini, canellini beans, celery, basil, oregano salt, pepper, tomatoes and garlic. Bring to boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer on medium-low heat for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add macaroni, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Adjust spices to suit your taste.

I also served with parmesan cheese, for people to add as desired.