Recipe: Not Quite Minestrone Soupis a miracle treat you’ll love. It’s simple enough to make on a busy weekend night, especially since you can prep it, put it in the slow cooker, and start your business. Just serve this with a delicious crusty loaf and call it a day!
Recipe Description
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While some of you are freezing, I’m still attempting to usher in the slightly cooler temps of autumn by wearing boots and baking muffins every chance I get. Since that hasn’t been working so well, I’m whippin’ out my soup kettle, putting on my mad soup scientist apron, and getting my soup on.
Today, we have minestrone. Sort of. It started out as a craving for some white chicken chili, which I’d planned to make with some of the cannellini beans I had cooked up over last month’s Hunger Challenge. Since I’d cooked a large pot of them and frozen individual portions, that one pot of beans has lasted for several weeks.
But as I gathered my ingredients, my craving changed a bit. Okay, it changed dramatically. I went from drooling over the idea of a creamy, slightly spicy white chicken chili to climbing up the walls with desire for soup with a rich, tomato & herb broth. With Israeli couscous. For some reason, once I spotted that little bag of Israeli couscous from my last $25 Shopping Cart foray, I knew the couscous just had to be in there.
This hunting & gathering within my own kitchen continued until I had a hodgepodge of tasty ingredients simmering gently on the stovetop. My nano-apartment smelled incredible, the aromas of garlic, tomatoes, and herbs tickling my nose as I racked my brain to figure out what the hell to call this new soup.
About a half-hour later, my mom, who was visiting me at the time, peeked into the soup kettle and declared I’d just made minestrone. Really? With Israeli couscous? Is that even allowed? I hopped online and did some quick research, only to find that my mother, as always, was right (*le sigh* Moms are always right, aren’t they?).
I’ve eaten plenty of minestrone soup over the years, but I’d never tried my hand at making it. Like some of my other irrational kitchen fears, I always thought it was way out of my league. In my mind, minestrone was some grand, complicated Italian concoction best made by a tiny Italian grandmother who tells crazy stories and feeds you amazing food (sorta like my own Sophia Petrillo). Fortunately, that’s not the case.
The beauty of minestrone soup is that there’s no set recipe to abide by. It’s literally one of those everything-but-the-kitchen-sink soups (or SOPA de retazos as my mom likes to call it). As long as the basic components of broth, pasta, beans, tomatoes & other veggies are there, you pretty much have minestrone.
In my accidental version, I used homemade chicken stock and leftover chicken to go along with my veggies and cannellini beans. The addition of Israeli couscous (also known as pearl couscous), is a fun departure from the standard shell or orzo pasta that’s traditionally found in most minestrone recipes, and chunks of zucchini and carrots give the soup some nice texture. This is rich & flavorful without being too heavy, and perfect for the cooler weather that’s approaching.
The best part? This accidental, not-quite-but-still-feels-right minestrone feeds a small army for less than $1 per serving. How is that even possible? By shopping carefully and making the most of what I already had on hand, even if it wasn’t exactly what the standard recipe calls for.
Sure, I could have bought shell pasta, swapped out the zucchini for the standard celery, and made other changes to make this more “traditional” (if I’d even known I was making minestrone, lol). But I’d already done my big grocery shopping run for the month, so why buy extra ingredients when I had plenty of stuff that would make a great soup on its own?
Shop from your kitchen first and you’ll be surprised at how much great food you can make with what you already have. Now, let’s check out the recipe!
Details Recipe Information
- Prepare: 10 Mins
- Cook: 15 Mins
- Difficult: Easy
- Serving: 8 people
- Cost per serving: $0.88
- Nutrition: for each serving
- Calories: 302.8
- Fat: 11g
- Cholesterol: 14.3mg
- Sodium: 419.1mg
- Potassium: 463.7mg
- Carbohydrates: 33.7g
- Protein: 11.1g
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Ingredients
- 4 cup chicken broth
- 2 cup of water
- 1 cup chopped cooked chicken thighs
- 2 cup cooked cannellini beans
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 2 small carrots, diced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cup chopped Roma tomatoes
- 1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 cup dried Israeli couscous
- 2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
- 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tbsp dried basil
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
Heat a large soup pot over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the garlic, onions, oregano, basil, and a dash of salt & pepper. Cook for about 1 minute until fragrant and the onions begin to turn translucent.
Next, add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes, followed by the chopped zucchini and tomatoes. Cook for another 2 minutes, then add the broth & water. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 6-7 minutes.
Add the chicken and beans and cook for a couple of minutes more, followed by the couscous. Simmer for another 5 minutes and remove from heat. Check for seasonings and adjust according to taste with salt & freshly ground black pepper.
When ready to serve, stir in the chopped spinach. Ladle generous amounts of soup in bowls or soup mugs and drizzle with extra olive oil. Serve with warm, crusty bread, and enjoy!
Further Reading:
- Recipe: Baked Apples with Apple-Cranberry Oatmeal
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