This is my official recipe for Minestrone soup — replacing my old, more complicated one. And of course it comes from my new favorite cookbook, No Whine with Dinner.

I was a little apprehensive about serving soup for dinner but it was a big hit, especially with my husband. I served it with bread topped with mozzarella cheese. While the kids ate mostly bread, they did try the soup. Little D is still in the love-to-eat-with-the-spoon stage so he ate more than Big A.

For those of you with beginner eaters, soups make great finger foods. Just take out the soft pieces like the beans, pasta and veggies (cook to be soft enough) and cut in half if needed. Little D used to eat soup/stew this way but now he’s a spoon boy.

This is really quick to make — and so tasty topped with parmesan cheese. To save time, cut the veggies the night before or earlier in the day. You can whip it up in about 30 minutes.

Any minestrone soup lovers out there?

Ingredients:
-2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
-2 medium zucchini (about 9 ounces each), unpeeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
-1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)
-1/2 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1/2 cup)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
-32 ounce carton all-natural chicken broth
-15 ounce can tomato sauce
-15 ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
-1/2 cup dried whole wheat blend elbow pasta
-3 fresh thyme sprigs (I didn’t have these and it still turned out wonderful!)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
-1/3 cup grated Paremesan cheese (optional)

Instructions:
1. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over medium heat. Add the zucchini, carrot, onion, garlic, and Italian seasoning and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables soften, about 12 minutes. Reduce the heat if the vegetables brown too quickly.

2. Stir in the broth and tomato sauce. Cover and raise the heat, and bring to a boil. Add the beans, pasta, and thyme, reduce the heat and cook at a low boil, uncovered, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the thyme sprigs, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Top each serving with the Parmesan cheese if desired.

Nutrition: (1 cup): 160 calories, 6g fat (.5 saturated), 7g fiber, 60% vitamin A, 50% vitamin C, 10% iron

I almost didn’t post this recipe because I wasn’t very happy with it at first. But when we had it for leftovers all week my mind changed. And it seemed to taste better each time we tried it. One night in a pinch for dinner it was minestrone soup with grilled cheese sandwiches…yum.

I cut the veggies the night before and put them in separate bowls in the fridge. One bowl contained the onions, carrots, celery and garlic and other bowl was full of cabbage and zucchini.

The biggest pain was sautéing the veggies in the morning. It was a work day so I didn’t have a lot of extra time. I ALWAYS forget to take the recipe prep time and double or triple it for me. I’m a novice (and messy) cook and it always takes me much longer than the recipe authors say it will. After I make something a few times I get quicker at it.

I combined all the ingredients and put them in the 6 quart slow cooker pot. My slow cooker has three interchangeable sizes of 2, 4 and 6 quarts. I like that you can leave this one on low up to 9 hours. Perfect for a work day.

One last thing, I used pasta I already had instead of the acini de pepe the recipe calls for.

Makes: 8-10 Servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 4-9 hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 6-quart

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
6-oz can tomato paste
14.5 oz can chicken, beef, or vegetable broth
24-oz can pinto beans, undrained
10-oz pkg. frozen green beans
2-3 cups chopped cabbage
1 medium zucchini, sliced
8 cups water
2 Tbsp parsley
2 Tbsp. Italian spice
1 tsp. salt, or more
½ tsp. pepper
¾ cup dry acini de pepe (small round pasta)
Grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese

1. Saute onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in oil until tender.
2. Combine all ingredients except pasta and cheese in slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low, adding pasta 1 hour before cooking is complete.
4. Top individual servings with cheese.

“Reprinted from Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook. Copyright by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.”

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