Summer Green Minestrone
This delicious Summer green minestrone soup is like Summer in a bowl! It's loaded with seasonal veggies, protein-packed beans and flavored with a Parmesan rind.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 8 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth My favorite is Better than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base in this soup.
- 8 ounce slice of parmesan cheese with the rind Remove the rind and shred the parmesan cheese.
- 1 medium zucchini, peeled or unpeeled chopped
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 2 cans of Garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and/or cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen peas defrosted
- 2 ounces fresh spinach rough chopped
- ½ cup fresh basil rough chopped
- 1 tablespoon prepared pesto Add more to taste.
- 1 cup ditalini pasta, small tubes, elbow macaroni or small shells cooked al dente (slightly firm) If you're preparing this soup gluten free just leave the pasta out.
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil, in a large soup pan, for about 5-6 minutes or until it starts to soften. Add the garlic and sauté for an additional one minutes.
- Add the broth and the parmesan rind and bring to a boil, simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, green beans and the beans to the pan and simmer an additional 8 minutes.
- Stir in the frozen peas, fresh spinach, fresh basil and prepared pesto and simmer for another 2 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
- Serve each bowl with a sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!