Minestrone

The ultimate summer produce soup

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 large zucchini, diced
• 1 large russet potato, diced
• 4 oz. of sliced radishes
• 1 8 oz. can of green beans, drained
• 1 28 oz. can of plum tomatoes
• 4 cups of water
• 1/4 cup of fresh basil, chopped
• 1 15 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained
• 1 15 oz. can of white beans, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 5 oz. bag of baby spinach leaves
• salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat olive oil until shimmering in a large stock pot. Add carrots, celery, and onion, and sauté until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add zucchini, potato, sliced radishes, and green beans and cook for another 5 minutes over medium heat.
2. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute before lowering heat to medium-low. Add canned plum tomatoes and water. Bring up to a simmer.
3. Once simmering, drain kidney beans and white beans before adding to your large stock pot. Add red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. After 25 minutes, remove from heat and add baby spinach leaves. Give soup pot a good stir to ensure that spinach is completely cooked inside soup. Add additional salt and pepper if needed.
5. Allow soup to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

*For zucchini, make sure to cut into strips length-wise first so you can discard the seeds before dicing/chopping it. This will ensure that when the zucchini cooks, it won’t become slimy. A good video guide can be found here.

*Growing up, when I ate minestrone, it always included pasta in the soup. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Rachael Ray’s version of minestrone that I found out that many versions of the soup use potatoes for the starch. Since swapping, I’ve never looked back. (You can find Rachael Ray’s original version here.)