Selena Robins, Author

Do snow blizzards and ice storms have you craving for comforting and tasty eats?

Then you’ve made a pit stop at the right place.

Channel your inner Italian soup-making magic and whip up a big pot of minestrone.

With no set recipe, this versatile soup can be made with any meats, vegetables, herbs, or spices you have on hand.

Get creative and adjust the recipe to suit your taste buds, using my recipe as a guide.

INGREDIENTS:

4 to 6 TBSP olive oil

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped

2 medium ribs of celery, chopped

1 sweet onion, peeled and chopped

3 TBSP tomato paste

1 head of roasted garlic, OR, if using raw garlic, mince 4 cloves

1 cup of fresh green beans, sliced

1 cup of fresh zucchini, sliced

1 large can diced tomatoes with liquid, or 1 large can whole tomatoes (just mash the tomatoes)

6 cups of beef broth (or whatever broth you have on hand)

1 pound ground beef (or any ground meat you have on hand)

4 Italian sausages (hot or sweet)

1 can white kidney beans

1 can romano beans

2 tsp. Calabrian chili peppers (or any other hot peppers you have on hand)

½ cup basil, chopped

5 sprigs rosemary, chopped

3 TBSP thyme

3 TBSP marjoram

1 TBSP ground cumin

1 TBSP ground ginger

crushed red pepper chili flakes (to taste)

salt and black pepper to taste

1 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Bake the sausages until done, then slice and set aside.

Warm 3 TBPS of the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium heat. Once the oil is heated, add the mirepoix (chopped onion, carrot, celery) and a pinch of salt.

Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened and the onions turn translucent, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and tomato paste, stir, and put the lid on the pot to let all the vegetables sweat on low heat.

While the mirepoix is simmering, cook the ground meat in a separate pan, adding salt and black pepper to taste, until the meat is browned with no pink. Drain the fat from the meat.

Add the roasted garlic, the cooked meat, sausage, broth, and all the herbs, ginger, the pepper flakes, chili peppers, and let cook for about 1 hour on medium-low. Taste the broth after 30 minutes or so, so you can adjust the seasoning to your taste.

After an hour, add the romano and kidney beans, green beans, and zucchini, stir, and bring to a slight boil. Once boiled, let simmer on low until the vegetables are al dente and beans are cooked through.

Remember: keep tasting through the cooking process so you can adjusts seasoning and spice level, or you may want to adjust with more herbs. It’s all to your personal taste.

Remove pot from the heat, and let it rest for a few minutes, allowing the flavours to mingle and develop further.

Stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 TBSP) and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil (about 2 TBSP).

Garnish with fresh basil leaves, thin slices of Parmasan or Romano cheese, if you’d like.

You can also cook up some pasta (like ditalini or shells) in a separate pot then add to your soup for extra heartiness.

Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!