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Monday, November 19, 2012

Minestrone soup

I have often stated on this blog that my all time favourite soup is the minestrone and that Olive Garden, in my opinion, makes the best minestrone. For the past several years, I have ordered minestrone at many other restaurants, hoping that it will match up to the taste of that from Olive Garden but sadly, that has not happened yet.
So, I did the next best thing - and that is to make minestrone at home, recalling ingredients from memory, and I must say that I am quite happy with the result - a filling soup that you will keep coming back for more of.

What you need:
Chickpeas/ garbanzo beans/ kabuli chana - 1/4 cup
Red kidney beans/rajma - 1/4 cup
Dried green peas - 1/4 cup
Onion - finely minced - 1/2 cup
Carrot - chopped - 1/2 cup
Celery - 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Shell macaroni - 1/4 cup
Butter - 3-4 tbsp
Soya sauce - 1 tsp
Italian soup seasoning - to taste (I recommend using this generously)
Salt - to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Grated parmesan cheese

Soak the chickpeas, red kidney beans and green peas in plenty of water for 8-10 hours.
Heat butter in a thick, heavy bottomed pan. I used the pressure cooker to do this. Saute the chopped onion, carrot and celery on low heat until brown. Add the soaked beans, salt, soya sauce, 4 cups of water and shell macaroni. Cover and cook till one whistle. Then reduce the heat to low and cook for a further 15 minutes.
Once the steam escapes completely, open the lid, stir well and add Italian soup seasoning. At this stage, if you feel the soup is too watery, boil for a while more to reach the required consistency and if you feel it is too thick, add some water and heat through.
Just before serving, add freshly ground black pepper and grate some parmesan cheese over the soup.

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11 comments:

Gajus kitchen said...

Such a tasty and filling soup.I wanted to try this at home and bookmarking your version.

Unknown said...

very warm and comforting food!!!
Sowmya

Ongoing Event - CWF - Whole Wheat Flour
Ongoing Event - Let's Party - Eggless Bakes and Treats

Anonymous said...

Sound good for a cold winters night. Good one

Priya Suresh said...

Loving that wonderful bowl of super filling soup.Prefect for me.

Chef Mireille said...

one of my favorite soups but never heard of making it with soy sauce before

Rajani S said...

Its always been clear soups for me :), I don't try the other types much :D. Shame, I know! Will try minestone sometime :)

Reshmi Mahesh said...

Love this filling warm yummy soup...

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

love this healthy version
Tasty Appetite

Padmajha said...

Very delicious soup!

Srivalli said...

The soup sounds so healthy..never tried with lentils with soup..will have to someday..

Pavani said...

Hearty, comforting and delicious soup.