I don’t remember my mum making minestrone when I was growing up but I do remember a very close friend of the family making the best soups and minestrone was always one of my favorites. The temperature dipped below freezing today and i needed a good hearty soup to warm me up so I decided to whip up a batch of minestrone. In true Accidental Chef fashion, I made the recipe up as I went along. I used gluten-free macaroni noodles for the pasta (made out of rice flour) that added a nice richness to the broth. When Romana makes the soup, she soaks the dry pasta in a bowl of water for about 30 minutes before adding the pasta (minus the soak water) to the pot.
Minestrone Soup
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 small can tomato paste (I didn’t have any so I used tomato soup instead)
4 large tomatoes, diced
1 whole zucchini, sliced
1 cup cooked beans (I used Romano beans)
1 cup macaroni pasta (I used gluten-free), uncooked
1 cup spinach
8 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot on medium. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Saute until the onions are soft.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, spinach, zucchini and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients except parsley, cook until pasta is done to taste.
Add parsley a minute before serving.
Accidental Chef’s Note: There is no end to the variations of this soup. You can substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth to make this a vegetarian meal. You can add tiny meatballs. You can even use rice instead of pasta and any variety of vegetables. Feel free to experiment!
Deborah, or iDeborah as she’s affectionately known on Twitter, loves to experiment in the kitchen. Some of her best dishes were created by accident! She started this blog to encourage others to get creative in the kitchen… and to record some of her accidental creations so she can enjoy them again! To learn more about
22. November 2010 at 11:14 am
Thanks, and for anyone that is having trouble chopping onions without the crying, here’s an incredibly easy tip – put them in the fridge for a few hours, then chop them straight away after taking them out! No more tears! I found some more onion soup recipes here if anyone wants to try some more variations.