Minestrone Soup

I love soup because it is so versatile. Don’t be afraid to adjust ingredients suite your tastes and what’s in your fridge. Make it up in advance and reheat so you don’t have to cook over this long weekend!

Ingredients:

• 3 T olive oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium white onions, chopped
• 2 C celery
• 5 chopped carrots
• 4 C broth of choice
• 4 C tomato sauce (I use homemade salsa or tomato sauce*)
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 1 C green beans cleaned and chopped into bite sized pieces (or 1 can without liquid)
• 4 C packed buckwheat, chopped**
• 3 to 4 C zucchini chopped
• 2 T dried oregano
• 3 T dried basil
• 1.5 T white sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1C small pasta of choice (seashells, macaroni etc)
• Parmesan cheese, grated, for topping

Instructions:

1. In a large pot (8 quarts) heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until it begins to brown. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes or until clear. Add carrots and celery and saute for another 5 minutes or so.
2. Add broth, and tomato sauce and bring to a boil.
3. Add remaining vegetables, spices and sugar. Bring back to a boil and then reduce heat. Let simmer at least until all veggies are tender. We recommend about 45 minutes.
4. Cook pasta in a separate pot until tender. Drain and save.
5. Add pasta to your serving bowls and ladle soup on top. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes:

* We like to make canned salsa or tomato sauce form any remaining, overripe or ugly tomatoes that can’t be used in other places. Its a great way to preserve the veggies and makes a zero waste product we use in a lot of places year round. But use any tomato sauce you like (spiced or otherwise).

** Buckwheat has long stems that are stronger than they look. If you don’t chop the buckwheat, the stems will string together when it cooks making a big, unappealing looking blob- so chop these up coarse so it all stirs in uniformly.

As always, send us your pictures if you make this recipe or send us your favorite recipes. We love to see what you’ve got cooking :).