Minestrone

A low of 29 degrees today-just the beginning of what's to come. 

BRING ON THE SOUP

Minestrone originally was a very humble dish and intended for everyday consumption, being filling and cheap, and would likely have been the main course of a meal.

Minestrone means ...."Big Soup" to Italians and means a soup with lots of goodies in it, especially pasta, beans and vegetables. The word however originated from Minestra, which means to dish up or serve. The Italians often eat a light soup as a first course, or a bigger soup as a light evening meal. The other interesting thing is that Italians often eat a hot soup on a hot day, as they find that it actually makes them feel cooler. 

Cook's Notes: Good minestrone soup captures the flavors of late summer vegetables in a bowl. Advance planning adds to the ease of putting this soup together by cooking the Italian sausage, dicing carrots, celery, onion and mincing the garlic the day before. Refrigerate until needed.  

Squash appears in many different shapes and colors. Two favorites included for this soup are green and yellow zucchini and patty pan squash.
Omit the sausage and substitute vegetable broth for chicken broth as a vegetarian option. 
Pair the soup with artisan or cranberry orange nut bread.
The recipe makes a large pot-perfect for several meals.
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup each carrots and celery, diced 
• 1 small yellow sweet onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 2 TB. Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Tuscan Herb Olive Oil
• 32. oz, box low-sodium chicken broth or low-sodium vegetable broth 
• 2 cups shredded cabbage (a package of coleslaw mix works)
• 2 cups cooked, crumbled Italian Sweet Sausage
• 2 cups tomato juice or V-8 Juice
• 3 cups water
• 1 can chunky tomatoes (basil, oregano. garlic)
• 1 cup each zucchini or patty pan squash, cherry tomatoes (patted dry on paper towel)
• 2 cups green beans, diced in half
• 1 can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. each thyme, basil, parsley flakes
• 1/2 tsp. ground sage
• 1-1/2 cups dried pasta (pasta shells or penne)

Directions:

• In a large soup pot or Dutch oven add olive oil. Saute celery, onions, garlic and carrots until tender-about 5 minutes.
• Wipe any excess olive oil from pot. Add to pot with the sauteed mixture; broth, chunky tomatoes, cabbage, tomato juice, water and spices.
• Bring to boil from a low medium heat, and simmer on low 15 minutes.
• Stir in zucchini, green beans, kidney beans, cherry tomatoes and cooked sausage.
• Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for an hour.
• Add in dried pasta the last 30 minutes of cooking time. 
• Remove bay leaves before serving.