This minestrone soup is hearty without being heavy. I prefer to use no salt and low-sodium ingredients (when using canned) and adding my own salt, which I can better control. If you can’t find low-sodium or no salt, make sure you rinse the ingredients off (if you want.) I used fresh green beans in the soup (which were on sale for $1.99 a pound) but you can use canned if you prefer. They won’t take as long to cook as fresh, so add them towards the very end, just to heat through. I always buy canned beans and broth when they are on sale to have on hand but this time, I didn’t have any chicken broth. None of the stores had a great price on it and buying it at full price would have put me over budget. Instead, I bought it at the Dollar Tree and seriously, I couldn’t taste the difference. Of course if you have homemade, that’s the best. My pasta was on sale for 79 cents and I used an onion I bought in a bag, which lowers the cost. I use fresh basil for a garnish but you don’t have to. You can actually garnish with parsley, chives, or anything else…or don’t garnish it at all. This actually makes 6 servings or 4 really large bowls. The soup, for 6, came in at $7.37. I bought a baguette for $1.49 (any hearty bread would taste great with this, especially to sop up the last of the juice), to round out the meal. Since I used basil as a garnish, and had it on hand, I mixed it up with some butter for the baguette. With the bread and butter, the meal came in at $9.36…for 6 servings! The soup cooks in 30 minutes, making it a perfect and filling weeknight meal. The grated parmesan adds the final touch to this fabulous soup.
HEARTY MINESTRONE –
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 6 for approx. $7.37
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2″ pieces
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 28 oz. can no salt diced tomatoes
- 1 14 oz. can crushed tomatoes – I had a hard time finding a 14 ounce can so I bought a 28 ounce and just divided it
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 15 oz. can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup elbow pasta
- 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- fresh basil for garnish, if desired, or any garnish you prefer
Directions:
Heat olive oil in large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and cook 4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add celery and carrots and cook about 5 minutes or until they start to soften. Stir in green beans, oregano, basil, and salt and pepper. Cook 3 minutes.
Add crushed and diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in kidney beans and pasta and cook 10 minutes or until tender. Ladle in bowls and top with parmesan and basil.
Serve with crusty bread if desired. To make herb butter, simply add chopped herbs of your choice to softened butter.