Minestrone Soup

As promised, I am back! And we are back to the wonderful, beautiful country of Italy. It's one of my favourite countries and I love, love, love the food!

So in true spirit of the World Cup, I thought I would bring a recipe from a country which is in my top 8 teams to win the whole thing. Even if they fall out, Italy will always have their culture, their men and for the proposes of this blog, most importantly their food. ;) lol.

Today's recipe is Minestrone soup. I first had it at Olive Garden and I loved
it. But before you learn how to make it, a bit of history

A brief history of Minestrone Soup, according to my favourite unauthenticated site: Wikipedia:
Minestrone (Italian: minestra [soup] + -one [augmentative suffix] hence "the big soup," the one with many ingredients) is the name for a variety of thick Italian soups made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. In Slovenia, it is known as mineštra.

There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables are in season. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock). Angelo Pellegrini, however, argues that the base of minestrone is bean broth, and that Roman beans "are the beans to use for genuine minestrone."

Minestrone is one of the cornerstones of Italian cuisine, and is just about as common as pasta on Italian tables

So here goes. Minestrone Soup!

Ingredients

2 cups zucchini, diced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic
2 x 450g cans of chicken broth
1 x 400g can Italian style stewed tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 x 450g can of red kidney beans, drained
1 x 300g package of frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1/2 cup of uncooked small shaped macaroni
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1. In a large pan combine the zucchini, pepper, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, peas and carrot
2. Bring them to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Add the macaroni and simmer for another 10 minutes while stirring occasionally
4. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and serve.

If you want, you can also add other vegetables that you like such as mushrooms, corn, celery, potatoes, cabbage, green pepper or whatever suits you. Some people even add a pound of ground beef or maybe some bacon or ham to this recipe.

Like when I went to Olive Garden minestrone may call for fresh warm bread to go with it, but you don't have to.

From me to you

Buon Appetito!

Lisa Rhooms