Homemade Minestrone Soup

Tis the season for homemade soup! Whenever I come down with a cold in the winter, all I want is a big bowl of homemade minestrone soup. This minestrone is packed with hearty vegetables, kidney beans, and a few scoops of shell pasta.

I try to avoid any type of store-bought soup or canned soup because they tend to be very high in sodium. I use low-sodium vegetable broth for this recipe, and I even add a little bit of water so it isn’t too salty. Those on a gluten-free diet are welcome to use brown rice shell pasta in place of regular pasta.

Ingredients

3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
½ cup tomato sauce
1 cup cooked whole grain shell pasta
¼ cup white onion, diced
½ cup carrots, sliced
½ cup celery, sliced
½ cup zucchini, chopped
½ cup diced tomato
1 cup kidney beans, rinsed
½ cup spinach leaves, chopped
½ cup water
Sea salt, pepper and basil, to taste
1-2 tsp olive oil, for grilling

Instructions

In a medium pot, cook shell pasta in boiling water until soft. Strain and set aside.
Melt olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.
Add the tomato sauce, vegetable broth, water, diced tomatoes, beans, spinach, pasta shells, and a dash of basil, sea salt and pepper. Stir together and bring to a low boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Taste and add more salt or other spices if desired.

Comments

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