Friday, January 18, 2013

-Free Recipe Friday - Jan. 18, 2013

I had in my mind for much of the day that I had to figure out what I was going to share for -Free Recipe Friday tomorrow. It hit me at about 2:30 that Friday wasn't tomorrow, but today. Oh. Shoot. What was I going to share?

Since I had on my menu plan to make minestrone, I decided I would just share whatever I ended up finding. Well, I wasn't happy with what I found so... I looked at a couple of recipes and came up with my own minestrone recipe! And you know what? I thought it was DELICIOUS! My son thought otherwise, but he never likes tomato-based soups. *sigh* My daughter didn't say anything but did eat a decent amount and my husband's not yet home, so I don't know. (Oh, before I got the chance to post this, he got home, ate and only said it would make a good lunch for tomorrow. lol)

In any case, here's the recipe!

Marvellous Minestrone
vegan (dairy-free, meat-free, egg-free), soy-free and potentially gluten-free
I remembered the picture this time! ;) Of course, I'd already finished eating...

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small/medium onion, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 chopped garlic cloves

2 cups vegetable broth or stock
1 796 mL (28 oz) can tomatoes, blended
2 cups water

1/2 zucchini, chopped
a handful of baby spinach, chopped into largish pieces (could have even had two handfuls)
1 tsp dried oregano (could even have a bit more)
2 tsp basil (could even have a bit more)
1 tsp salt
ground pepper (however much you want)
1 can of red kidney beans, drained

(1 cup chopped green beans, which I didn't put this time because I didn't have them, but they'd be good)

1.5 cups baby shells pasta (this makes it VERY heavy on the pasta! you might want to put less, maybee 3/4 to 1 cup only); I used regular pasta, but one of the recipes I was looking at used gluten-free pasta, so that would definitely work.

Instructions
In large pot, put oil, onion, carrots, garlic on med to med-low heat. Once heated, cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add broth, tomatoes and water. Stir. Bring to a boil.

Add zucchini, spinach, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and kidney beans. Simmer covered 30+ minutes. (The longer you simmer, the more flavourful it will be.)

Add green beans, if using, and pasta.

Cook 6-10 minutes, depending on the pasta being used. Let it be ever so slightly not cooked if it's going to be sitting for even 10 minutes. The pasta really absorbs the liquid!

Makes about 8 servings.

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