Minestrone Soup

This is a DELICIOUS Minestrone Soup recipe! It's so simple too! Take a look.

Here are all the ingredients you will need to begin:
1/4 cup oil
1 clove garlic (minced)
2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
2 Tbsp parsley
1 can tomato paste
1 can beef broth
8 cups water
2 carrots sliced
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp sage
2 zucchini sliced
1 can (28 oz) diced tomato
1 can kidney beans
1 cup shell macaroni (or more)
Optional: 1/2 pound cooked ground beef

The first and most time consuming step is pealing the carrots and chopping the vegetables. (Tip: I usually cut my carrots and zucchini in large chunks.)

The next step is to brown your meat.

While the meat is cooking, you can start putting all the ingredients into a large pot. Add every ingredient (including the meat when it is done), except for the pasta and zucchini. Place your pot on the stove and cook until carrots are mostly tender.

Add the pasta of your choice and the zucchini and cook about 15 minutes more.

Serve with bread or in a bread bowl! You may also like to serve a salad alongside it. Oh, and it tastes great with Parmesan Cheese on top!

I figured out the cost is approximately 60 cents per serving and this recipe serves 10 -12 people. So, you can make a big pot, put the amount needed to give in a Tupperware container to transport, and then feed your family or put the rest in the freezer for another meal!

Soup may not sound like an exciting meal, but I guarantee it is a winner! This was the first meal brought to Nate and I when we came home from the hospital with our brand new baby, Alexander, and we LOVED it. I remember very clearly that we received a phone call saying that dinner was on it's way, and then I heard that it was soup... Nate and I were both disappointed by the news... BUT it was AMAZING! We loved it, it actually filled Nate up (which is hard to do), we had leftovers, and it was actually one of our favorite meals!

- Amy