Final day of the blogging marathon and what a journey it was this time . With Diwali and Halloween this week, I was doing 2 posts on some days to cover up the festivals. Yeah it was tedious, but it was a nice challenge. So my last one for this series is going to be the minestrone soup. By now all of you must know that I love pasta and beans and this soup has it all. I first tasted minestrone soup in Olive Garden years ago and those were the naive years when I had no idea these things can be made at home . This soup is very easy to make and you can add any vegetable on hand. I have used Italian seasoning, but feel free to experiment with seasonings of your choice.

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1 small onion
2 big garlic cloves
2 carrots
1 small potato
1/2 cup green beans
5 cups water (Use vegetable stock for more flavor)
Salt
Pepper
1 can red kidney beans
1/4 cup garbanzo
2 big ripe tomatoes
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 cup small pasta

Notes
1. Use any vegetable on hand.
2. Use any small pasta. Do not add more pasta as it would absorb all the water.

Method
Heat olive oil and add cumin seeds.

Add onions and garlic and saute until onions are done.

Add the vegetables.

Add water, salt and pepper.

Allow to boil for 10 minutes.

Add the cooked kidney beans and garbanzo.

Add tomatoes.

Add Italian seasoning.

Boil for another 10 minutes.

Add pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked. It took around 10 minutes for me. Use any small pasta for this.

See how everything has come together.

Healthy and filling bowl of soup. The beans and the pasta make this a meal in itself.

Enjoy!

Sending to Valli’s ”Soups and Salads” Mela and Kalyani’s Global Food Festival.