[Mmm]inestrone.

The first time I ever made minestrone soup, I was in first grade. It's an easy soup with lots of vegetables, room for alterations, and a classic crowd-pleaser. Usually I compliment this meal with some cheddar-garlic biscuits.

 

1 16-ounce can (2 cups) kidney beans

1 clove garlic (minced)

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

¼ cup shopped fresh parsley

1 small fresh zucchini, unpeeled and diced

2 celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped

2 small carrots, peeled and diced

1 small onion

1 16-ounce can (2 cups) whole tomatoes, cut up with a spoon

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 ½ cups water

1/3 cup elbow macaroni, uncooked

½ cup beef bouillon or tomato juice, salt to taste (I use small can of tomato sauce)

1. Put beans in a large kettle and mash them slightly with a fork.
2. Add garlic, salt, pepper, oil ad parsley. Stir well.
3. Add all vegetables, butter and water to the kettle. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Lower heat, cover the kettle and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
5. After 1 hour, add macaroni and beef bouillon or tomato juice. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.

Serves 6 to 8

Notes:

• Start early! I usually plan to start 1.5-2 hours before I want to serve dinner. It takes time to chop the vegetables, and the soup simmers for 1 hour and then an extra 15 minutes after adding the macaroni. Be patient. Eat cheddar-garlic biscuits as an appetizer.
• Instead of tomato juice, I usually save the juice from the can of whole tomatoes and add it at the end with the macaroni
• There is lots of room to be flexible. I usually add black beans and some extra quantities of vegetables
• The garlic and parsley aren't deal-breakers. If you don't have any, don't worry about it
• I prefer adding more than 1/2 c. of macaroni. The more extras you add, the more water you might need to add. This isn't really a "soupy" soup; everything soaks up the water pretty quickly after you remove it from the heat and the consistency is more like goulash.
• You don't have to use elbow macaroni. Switch it up and make it fun with any type of noodle. I really like spirals or mini shells.