The sudden arrival of Spring means two things. One, the weather gets warmer so that frolicking outdoors starts to seem more appealing than slaving away in the kitchen. Two, the farmer’s markets are full of the freshest, cheapest delicious produce. To take full advantage of the best of both situation, I highly suggest that you make this soup!
Now I know that making soup just as it’s finally starting to get warmer out may seem counterintuitive, but I promise, this really is a good idea… This soup is chock full of delicious vegetables to provide you with energy without weighing you down. By making this soup now, you can have it stored away in your freezer for easy, nutritious meals all summer long. My logic is, stock up now so that you don’t have to think about it later!
This soup makes a veggie-filled accompaniment to any lunch or dinner. Store it in individually-portioned glass jars in your freezer, so that you can take it out the night before and have a delicious, preservative-free soup ready when you want in.
This is an incredibly flexible soup to which you can add any vegetables, herbs, or spices that you have on hand. Feel free to add beans and pasta to make it more of a traditional Minestrone. Or top the soup with a bit of pesto to give it a French provincial flavor. You can even substitute the basil, oregano, and thyme for some miso paste and siracha sauce to give it a slightly Asian taste.
Homemade Italian Style Vegetable Soup
Time: 2 hours
- 4 cups of assorted vegetables in less than pristine condition (onions, carrots, celery, bell peppers, mushrooms, lettuce, leeks, ect)
- 2 bay leaves
- 12 peppercorns
- 3 cloves of garlic, lightly chopped
- 1-2 sprigs of rosemarry or other herbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1-2 leeks, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced or chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 (28-ounce) can of diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups of frozen green beans
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspooon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach or kale, defrosted
- Dump your assorted vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, garlic, and herbs into a large stock pot and fill the pot with enough water to just barely cover the vegetables. With the stove on high, bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. In the mean time chop up and prepare all of your vegetables for the soup itself. Use a strainer to remove the vegetables, and then set the remaining vegetable broth aside. Alternatively, if you don’t have the time, you could skip this step altogether and use boxed or frozen vegetable broth.
- Using the same stock pot as before, lightly saute your celery, onion, leeks, and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add your carrots and zucchini and continue to lightly saute for another 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the tomatoes, green beans, basil, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, and broth (from step one).
- Allow soup to simmer for 30-45 minutes, then add in the spinach or kale, and allow it to cool for an additional 10 minutes.
- Ladle into bowls and serve (or freeze). Enjoy!