Minestrone Soup

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This is the ultimate hearty vegetable soup. This recipe has a lot of ingredients, but don't let this intimidate you from either a budget or time perspective. The soup's total ingredient cost was less than $20, and total vegetable slicing and dicing time was about 20 minutes. I must mention that I'm really starting to notice a trend, because all three recipe posts to this blog have had alcohol in them!! This soup will be great for lunches for The Hubby and me this week. Serve with a chunk of bread for a filling meal.



Minestrone Soup

Ingredients
4 slices bacon, sliced into small pieces
2 tbsp butter
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 leek (all of the white part and a bit of the light green part), cut in half length-wise then sliced thinly
3 cups shredded green cabbage
2 zucchinis, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 potato, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups beef stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
5 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
3 tbsp fresh chopped basil
1 tsp black pepper
salt, to taste
1 - 14 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4 fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup small pasta (macaroni or small bow shape)
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese

Directions
Fry bacon pieces in large soup pot until cooked. Add the butter, garlic, carrots, onion, and leek.

Saute until vegetables are translucent. Add cabbage, zucchini, potato, beef and chicken stocks, wine, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add oregano, 2 tbsp. of the parsley (the rest will be used at the end), salt, and pepper. Simmer another 15 - 20 minutes. Add the kidney beans, tomatoes, and pasta. Cook until pasta is done. Adjust seasonings, and add the rest of the parsley and the basil. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Serves: 8

Megan's Review: Delicious, healthy, hearty, yum!
The Hubby's Review: Awesome.

Recipe Source: Whitewater Cooks (http://www.whitewatercooks.com)