Easy Minestrone

Have you ever been in one of those moods where you are hungry and have an almost empty pantry but don’t feel like going to the grocery store? 

I do, all the time! Now of course there are days where I want to go all out and spend 5 hours in the kitchen making some gourmet meals but other days I just want to throw something on the stove and eat in less than 30 minutes. 

So I’m looking through my pantry to see what can I throw together as a quick meal? Now I could get real creative here and have a mustard sandwich with a side of probably stale Oreos, maybe eat an entire jar of cookie butter in one sitting or pop open a can of corn and eat it with a spoon but I think I love myself a little more than that, I think. 

I wanted something filling that would not require much effort. As I’m searching throw my cabinets I find a can of cut green beans, vegetable stock,  a handful of egg noodles, I have some celery and carrots in the fridge and I always keep onions and garlic. So that’s settled! I’m making a mines-throw-anything-you-can-find-in-a-pot-rone soup. 

For this recipe I am making use of whatever I had available so feel free to make some substitution if you have different ingredients at your disposal.

Recipe: 

serves 4 

3 tomatoes ( or 1 can of diced tomatoes)

1 quart vegetable stock

1 can cut green beans (or 1 cup fresh green beans/ frozen broccoli) 

1 can cannellini beans (or red kidney) 

1/2 cup pasta noodles (I used egg noodles but you can use macaroni, rotini, penne, or any short noodle)

Salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan

1tbsp olive oil 

1 onion

3 celery sticks

2 carrots

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1/2tsp basil

1/2tsp oregano 

1tsp parsley

The recipe is fairly simple. It essentially involves throwing everything in the pot and letting it cook while you continue to postpone making a grocery list for the week. 

Start by dicing your onion into medium sized pieces. Add oil to a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add onion and let it sweat for about 2-3 minutes. 

While onion is doing its thing, small dice the celery and carrots. Try to keep them all around the same size so they cook evenly. Combine with onion and give it a stir to continue to sweat out the veggies for another minute. Add the garlic, basil, parsley, oregano and some black pepper. Give it a stir and cook for another minute. 

Add your vegetable stock and scrape the bottom to make sure you get any veggies that might’ve gotten stuck. 

If you’re using fresh tomatoes put them in a blender and blend until smooth. If you’re not, go ahead and add your can of tomatoes juice and all. 

Bring to a boil and add green beans, cannellini beans and pasta. Cover and reduce to a simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the pasta is done. Season with salt to taste. 

Serve in a big bowl and sprinkle some Parmesan on top. Enjoy!