We all crave a hot bowl of soup as the weather cools down, and some of my favorites this time of year are my awesome lentil soup and this delicious tomato soup. The minestrone soup I have for you today is another favorite and I love cooking a big pot of it to eat whenever the craving strikes. A classic minestrone is a thick soup with veggies, beans and pasta, all cooked together in one pot. While it is usually vegetarian, it can sometimes contain a meat stock. Some people also serve it with a sprinkling of parmesan. But it is by no means a difficult soup to veganize and all you need to do is swap out the meat stock with a good, favorful vegetable stock and – if you need the cheese – replace it with cashew parm. I usually cook this minestrone soup on the weekend and eat it all week with nothing more than some Italian bread to dip in. Jay too likes it – it’s one of the few soups I can actually get him to eat, because he loves anything tomato-ey – so I suppose I can safely say it’s kid-friendly too.
Expert tips
My minestrone recipe is quite traditional, and it’s quite straightforward. I use the classic mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots, stir in green beans and cabbage, and then add beans and pasta. Here are some tips and tricks for making a really delicious soup: Check to get new recipe updates by email.
Chop your veggies in a fine dice. Shred the cabbage in fine shreds. Your veggies should not be much bigger than the cooked beans. You can use any veggie that cooks fairly quickly. Bell peppers would be fine here, I really like green bell peppers for the savory taste they add. Summer or winter squash is also great. I usually use white beans in my minestrone, like cannelini or navy beans, but use any bean that takes your fancy. Pinto beans, kidney beans and even chickpeas are fine here. I use orzo pasta in here because Desi loves it, but any small sized pasta is fine. Ditalini is widely used in minestrone and is great here. Small orecchiette or shells or elbows work just as well. Use gluten-free to make this recipe gf, but wholegrain or regular is fine as well. I love using San Marzano tomatoes in any recipe where you will really, really taste the tomatoes, just because they are so flavorful. I especially love them in this minestrone, so try and use them if you have them. Otherwise use any canned plum tomatoes. You will also need some tomato paste. Use a good quality vegetable stock in your minestrone, it makes all the difference. You need just some finely chopped parsley or basil for a garnish, but if you love sprinkling some cheese on, cashew parm tastes divine with this soup. This is a low-calorie soup and very healthy, but if you want to avoid any added fats, you can skip the olive oil and begin your recipe with vegetable stock.
Ingredients
Onions Carrots Celery Garlic Bay leaf Green beans Cabbage Vegetable stock Paprika Oregano Canned plum tomatoes (San Marzano are great, but any plum tomatoes work) Tomato paste Parsley (optional)
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