Tag Archives: zucchini

Well, it’s not exactly “soup weather” here in Richmond quite yet… 

However I must say that I’d prefer to stick with the 80 degree temps any day, I’m a hot weather gal through and through

But since I had a lot of farmers market goodies that I needed to use up this week, and was craving soup for some reason tonight, I rallied against the warm weather gods and made this minestrone anyways!

Minestrone FTW.

Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right

Marinara Minestrone

Serves about 6

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 medium eggplant, cubed
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 jar marinara sauce (I used 365 brand w/ mushrooms)
• 7-8 cups liquid (I used 3 cups chicken broth, the rest water)
• 15.5 oz. can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 cup orecchiette (or any pasta you like)
• dried oregano, sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tblsp olive oil

How cool are these speckled zucchini? 

Yep.  Thought so

This minestrone is pretty darn easy ya’ll.  The only real “cooking” involved includes stirring the pot o’ soup simmering on the stovetop.  Leaving you (me?) ample time to talk away on the phone all night, or whatever.

Start with a quick saute of the onion and zucchini  in 1 tblsp olive oil, right in the soup pot, for about 5 minutes.  Just get those onions tender. 

Then add the eggplant and garlic, stirring for another minute.

Pour in the marinara sauce and liquid, whatever it is that you prefer to use.  I chose half  water / half chicken broth because I happened to have some in the freezer.

But use all water if ya want.  Or beef broth.  Or veg stock.  You catch my drift…

This marinara sauce is one of my favorite go-to’s in a time crunch, Whole Foods brand with mushrooms.  Try it, you’ll see

Throw the spices into the minestrone too now while you’re at it.  Pinch or two of dried oregano and a crank of the salt & pepper mill will do.

Bring the minestrone to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and cover.  Let cook for 20 minutes.

Now just add in the drained/rinsed cannellini beans and bring back up to a boil (this will only take a minute or two). 

Stir in the dried pasta and cook according to the time on the directions, keeping the pot loosely covered.

If the minestrone gets too thick at any time, just splash in some more liquid based on how you like it

At the end of the pasta’s cooking time, add in the final touch of some freshly grated cheese.  I used this Pecorino Romano scrap that Fanatic Mom left in my fridge.

But Parmesan would be just as nice

They have these little cheese scrap/ends at Whole Foods on the cheap and they are a great way to try something new without investing too much!

It’s so funny because I really (I mean really) dislike goat cheese <— if you want to know why read some of this, I’d say the barnyard effect sums it all up for me

But for some reason this sheep’s milk Pecorino Romano didn’t phase me at all, in fact I really enjoyed it!  Much milder than the way goat cheese comes across to my palate.

Anyways.

Once the cheese has been added, give a good stir and just let the minestrone rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

 

Buttery.

     

Creamy.

  

And rich.

Those would be my three words to describe this Marinara Minestrone!

I think it was the combo of the silky cannellini beans with the marinara sauce, which has a different effect than using just a can of tomatoes thanks to the addition of olive oil or something, plus don’t forget the creamy Pecorinio Romano.

This minestrone just warmed the soul!

Very good recipe for a very good evening after a very good day, #winning

Time to go see if my ATL Braves can pull off a big win tonight… bet ya didn’t know I liked baseball did ya?

They’ve been my team ever since I was a little girl collecting baseball cards on the reg… who knew?  CookinFanatic is always full of surprises!

Have a great evening ya’ll!