Veg Minestrone Soup

With winter out of our way, and summer making its presence felt, I thought I’d said goodbye to the thought of hot soups. Frankly, I’m not a very soup-friendly person. Except if it’s hot n sour or has mushrooms. But that was until I’d had Minestrone Soup. It’s hardly a soup I say, it’s a bowl oozing with goodness. And with nights at end being spent at work, I got quite used to ordering it for dinner from an amazing eatery, Pronto.

So, last week when I was sneezing uncontrollably instead of playing Holi like everyone else, I decided to comfort myself with a bowl of yumminess. I must confess, I wasn’t quite sure if I would succeed. This was something I had never attempted earlier, would it turn out well?

To my surprise, it did! And after looking up a few recipes online, thanks to Pinterest, I found this one that I used as a reference. I improvised a bit on the ingredients depending on what was available in my kitchen, including stuff I favour in my cooking. I replaced kale with spinach, not adding beans or chickpeas, and added corn, broccoli and green peas.

I did myself a huge favour making this yummy soup. Because when I’m sick, I feel hungry but don’t feel like eating anything. Minestrone Soup is just perfect. With veggies, mouthwatering seasoning and my favourite- pasta, I was already feeling much better after two whole bowls.

As some of you requested, I’ve also added step-by-step pictures to be an aid in the cooking process.

Here’s how you can make this delicious MInestrone soup in less than 40 mins.

Veg Minestrone Soup

Ingredients
Serves 3-4 people
1 cup or 250 grams of Green peas, corn, diced carrots, broccoli florets, French Beans, zucchini, red capsicum
5 medium size tomatoes
1 medium onion
a few spinach leaves
1 tbsp seasoning (chilli flakes, a pinch of sugar, rosemary, thyme, oregano)
2-3 tbsp of Olive Oil
2-3 cups of water or vegetable stock
salt to taste
1/2 cup cooked pasta of your choice
Mozzarella cheese to garnish

Method
Cut all the vegetables and keep the onions, garlic and carrots separately. Puree the tomatoes and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a skillet and add the chopped onions, garlic and carrots. Sauté for about 4 minutes. Then add all the other chopped vegetables in the skillet and sauté for another 4-5 minutes.
Now add the tomato puree and water (or stock), enough to cover all the vegetables, and then add salt and the spices mixture. Bring it to boil and then turn the flame to medium low, while the soup simmers for about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in water as instructed on the packet and set aside.
Keep stirring the soup occasionally and if the water evaporates, add some in between.
After 20 minutes, add the pasta and spinach leaves to the soup, cook for 2-3 minutes and pour yourself a steaming, hot bowl of soup.
I didn’t have any soup sticks so I used wheat crackers for the crunch and since I love eggs, I soft boiled one egg for 4 minutes to go along with the soup for wholesome nourishment.

Serve this Vegetarian Minestrone with soup sticks and garnish with Mozzarella cheese.

I was really hungry, and ate two bowls of this yummy soup. And though I had made a little more than that, I realised the soup didn’t taste as good the next morning. Rather, it was over flavoured. Guess, it’s a soup thing- to have it hot and right after cooking it. Try not to have this soup as a leftover. It tastes excellent fresh, and so I’m sure you’d hardly be left with anything 🙂
While I’m still on the road to recovery, I’m going to cook this soup again, and again, and again. Even on a day I’m perfectly well and spirited!
Happy eating.
~Akkta

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