Minestrone Soup – Guest post for TMF

This post was earlier cross posted in Vidya’s blog, Traditionally Modern Food (TMF). I did a guest post for her and here it is. Thanks again Vidya for giving me this opportunity. :-)

When Vidya asked me for guest post, I was really elated and humbled and when the theme was “Toddler food” I couldn’t say no for sure. Also when Vidya asks, how can this Vidhya say No? :-) Vidya was my first virtual friend from the food blogging community. What do I say about her and her blog? The blog name says it all – Traditionally Modern Food. I love all her recipes and especially the baked versions of thattai, vadai and other delicacies. Its in my todo list and will be trying them soon. I got a chance to meet her also. A fun person to be with and the other thing that I like about her is she readily shares her tips that she follows for posting and stuff. Now tell me who will do that?? I am glad to find a friend for life. Wishing her good luck for all her future endeavours.

Here is her social media presence

Blog link: https://traditionallymodernfood.com/
FB link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Traditionally-Modern-Food/762621750435010?ref=hl&ref_type=bookmark
Pinterest link: http://www.pinterest.com/tradmodfood/traditionally-modern-food/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tradmodfood

Now coming to the recipe, I have mentioned many times in my blog that my kiddo loves soup. In my opinion, soups are best ways to sneak in the vegetables.

Initially I used to give him pureed soups and then started chunky soups. The veggie chunks soaked in the soup broth is easier to chew and a great way to introduce vegetables. The Minestrone soup is a famous Italian soup and its one of the famous dish in the Olive Garden – Italian chain restaurant in US. Whenever we go there, we have this soup for sure. Its loaded with veggies, beans and pasta. I have tried similar kind with Indian spices but here is the recipe with Italian spices. Its a filling soup and you can pack this for lunch too along with some sandwich.

Ingredients:

• Shallots: 4

• Celery – 2 stalks

• Carrot – 2

• Zucchini – 2

• Tomatoes – 3 to 4

• Red kidney beans – 1 can

• White cannellini beans – ½ can

• Vegetable broth – 1 can (32 oz)

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsps

• Shell Pasta – 1 cup

• Dried Oregano – 1 tsp

• Dried Basil – 1 tsp

• Salt – 1 tsp

• Freshly crushed pepper – 1 tsp

• Grated cheese while serving – as required (Parmesan will go well, but you can choose your favorite)

• Water – 4 cups

Steps:

• Boil the three tomatoes in 4 cups of water till the skin peels off. It will take upto 12-15 minutes

• While the tomatoes are getting done, chop the shallots, celery, carrots and zucchini.

• Let the tomatoes cool, peel the skin and chop them into chunks.

• Heat the pan and add oil.

• Once the oil is hot, add the onions and saute till they are translucent.

• Now add the chopped veggies, oregano, basil and salt and Mix well.

• Let it cook for up to 3-4 minutes.

• Now add the tomato chunks and mix well.

• Add the pasta and vegetable broth.

• Let the pasta cook in the vegetable broth for 8-10 minutes till they are al dente.

• Finally add the beans and crushed pepper and let it cook for another 3 minutes.

Thats it. Yummy soup is ready. Serve hot with shaved/grated cheese and bread. #MinestroneSoup      

Notes:

1) You can use regular onion instead of shallots. The traditional recipe doesn’t call for shallots though.

2) If you notice I went with store bought beans and broth. You can make them from scratch too. Soak a handful of beans and pressure cook it by adding ¼ tsp of salt. Similarly whenever I do kootu, I save the boiled veggie water and use it as broth. But if I don’t have it in hand I go for store bought.

3) You can also use canned tomatoes and that gives you the red color to the soup.

I prefer Low Sodium canned products and when you use the canned beans rinse them before adding it to the soup and adjust the salt accordingly