Summer Vegetable Minestrone
with zucchini / bell peppers
Minestrone isn't just for cool weather. This one comes together fast and makes great use of summer's bounty of fresh vegetables.
Ingredients
- Pasta, macaroni - 2 oz (sub any small pasta shape)
- Onions, medium - 1, chopped
- Carrots - 6 oz, diced
- Bell peppers, red - 1/2, diced
- Zucchini - 8 oz, diced
- Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped
- Corn - 2 ears, kernels sliced off (sub frozen corn, ~1/2 cup / ear)
- Beans, cannellini or white (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can, drained and rinsed
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Italian seasoning - 2 tsp
- Paprika, smoked - 1 tsp
- Tomato paste - 3 Tbsp
- Stock, any type - 5 cups
- Tomatoes, diced (14 oz / 397 g) - 1 can
- Cheese, parmesan rind, small (opt) - 1
- Bay leaves - 1
- Basil - 8 leaves, chiffonade
- Lemon juice - 1 tsp
- Cheese, parmesan (opt) - for serving, grated
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Pasta - (If making Thursday night’s meal, boil pasta for that night at the same time.) Boil pasta according to package directions. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Onions / Carrots / Bell peppers / Zucchini / Garlic - Prep as directed. Store onions, carrots, and bell peppers in one container. Store zucchini and garlic in their own containers. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Corn - Shuck corn and slice kernels off cobs. Place in a microwave safe dish and cover with a damp paper towel. Heat until corn is tender but still has some crunch, ~2 minutes. (If using frozen corn, defrost.) (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Beans - Drain and rinse.
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Make
- Heat a Dutch oven with oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and bell peppers and saute until tender and lightly caramelized, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Add garlic, Italian seasoning, paprika, and tomato paste. Saute for 2 minutes more.
- Stir in stock and tomatoes (including liquid).
- Add zucchini, parmesan cheese rind (if using), and bay leaves. Bring soup to a simmer and simmer until zucchini is tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
- While soup simmers, chiffonade basil.
- Return to soup and stir in corn and beans. Simmer until heated through.
- Remove soup from heat. Stir in lemon juice and season with some salt and pepper
- Divide pasta between serving bowls (reserve the portion for Thursday night if made together).
- Ladle soup over pasta. Top bowls with fresh basil and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
30 reviews
This soup was amazing! My 5 year old had 3 bowls! I did the sauté steps 1 and 2 in the Instant Pot, then added the remaining ingredients including the pasta (upped to 3 Oz because my boys like macaroni) and put under high pressure for 4 minutes. It was perfect! Super quick and easy. We will make this again this summer when we have lots of zucchini to use!
0 HelpfulGood way to clean out the fridge and use lots of CSA veggies -- I used the wide variety I had rather than those in the recipe. The flavoring felt heavy on the Italian seasoning -- maybe with some different seasoning I could love it.
0 HelpfulPut everything into the slow cooker, except the pasta. Added the uncooked pasta 30 minutes before we wanted to eat. So easy!!
0 Helpful