Minestrone Soup

Dear Friends,

This is a warm soup made with hearty vegetables perfect for autumn when it starts getting cooler. I have used lot of root vegetables plus beans to make it flavourful, delicious and healthy. This is perfect at this time of the year when there are so many different vegetables available in the market. This recipe serves 3 people.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1/4 cup red kidney beans
1/4 cup dry green peas
2 celery sticks cut into small pieces
1 carrot cut in small pieces
1 cup butternut squash cut in small cubes
1 big onion cut into small pieces
1 cup broccoli florets
3-4 mushroom quartered
2 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup quinoa macaroni (you can use regular macaroni, fusilli or any other pasta)
Salt to taste
Cumin powder
Black pepper powder
1 inch ginger piece cut into gimlets
Oil for cooking

Procedure:

1. Soak kidney beans and dry green peas in water for 3-4 hours if you have already plan ahead. If you decide 2 hours before, soak both beans in hot water and cover for at least 1 1/2 hour. Last minutes decision to make this soup, use ready made tin.

2. After beans are soaked for few hours, cut and prepare vegetables. Cut celery, carrot and butternut squash in small chunks. In pressure cooker, add soaked beans, celery, carrot, butternut squash and 2 cups of water. Cook until 2 whistles or when beans are cooked properly. Once it is ready, let pressure cooker cool down and then open.

3. Chop onion in small cubes, separate broccoli florets, cut mushroom in four pieces and ginger into thinly cut gimlets. I am using red and white quinoa macaroni which is gluten-free.

4. In a wide pot or a pan, add 1 tbsp oil. When oil is hot, add onion and saute for 2-3 minutes or until translucent. Add cooked beans and vegetables. Mash few vegetable to make thick sauce. Add 2 cup tomato puree and some water to adjust consistency. You don’t want to add too much water. Also add macaroni. Let it cook on slow for 2-3 minutes.

5. Now add mushroom and cook for another 2 minutes. At the end, add broccoli and ginger gimlets. Keep few gimlets for garnish. Let it simmer on low for 2 minutes.

5. Garnish it with slices of ginger and serve when it is hot. We had bread and potato wedges on the side. The soup was so delicious and filling, we were very satisfied after having this soup for lunch.

Try minestrone soup once and hopefully you will love it as much as my family did.

Let me know if you have any questions regarding the dish.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Happy cooking!

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