Soup's On!!

My family is a soup family.  We love the stuff.  Because we've endured almost 6 months of winter, soup has been a favourite meal to get us through these frigid days.  I've been looking for a good Minestrone Soup recipe for awhile now.  I was making a meal for a friend who just had a baby, and wanted to send along a couple jars of soup.   I found a recipe by Michael Smith.  He is one of my favourite Canadian chefs.  I took his recipe and adapted it to my family's taste.  Voila!  It's a keeper!!  I hope you enjoy it!

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients

1 package of bacon, chopped

2 onions, peeled and diced

6 carrots, peeled and diced 

10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced ( or 2-3 heaping TBSP minced garlic from a jar)

3 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced

2 cups cauliflower florets

1 large can tomato sauce (about 2-3 cups)

1 small can tomato paste

2 litres chicken broth (* I like to use homemade - recipe below)

1 tablespoon dried oregano

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1   18 ounce can white kidney beans (or 2 cans depending of your family likes beans)

1 can niblets kernel corn

Directions

1.  Put the bacon into a 6-quart soup pot and brown it until it is crisp. Pour off most of the bacon fat and discard.

2.  Add onions, carrots, and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Add zucchini, cauliflower, tomatoes, tomato paste, corn, chicken broth, and oregano.. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender, but still hold their shape.

3.   Stir in beans

 

4.  Sprinkle a little rated Parmesan on top and cut warm piece of  warm multi-grain bread! 

 

Dip away!  Yummo!

My husband suggested that ham would be a nice addition to this soup.  Hmmmm, it might work.  Really you could play with this soup and make some other yummy additions.  If you do, let me know! 

Enjoy!

Laura

 

 

 

 

* Chicken Broth Recipe:

• 1 chicken
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 peppercorns
• 1 star aniseed
• 1 cinnamon stick
•  salt to taste

Put your chicken in a soup pot and cover with water.

1. Bring to a boil and add the spices (I use a large tea ball)
2. Simmer for 2 -3 hours.
3. Remove from heat and take chicken off the bones when it is cool enough to handle.
4. Strain spices, etc from broth and refrigerate over night
5. Scoop cooled fat from the broth - now it's ready to use!

I freeze the broth and the meat separately.