My Mom's Healthy Minestrone Soup Recipe
My mom used to make a wonderful Minestrone Soup and to this day it is one of my favorite soup dishes. I use her recipe often since this soup is a hardy, very tasty and super easy to make. Mom always made this soup using fresh chicken stock, but if you are a vegetarian you can just use vegetable broth.
Minestrone can be made in various ways. This is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice, sometimes both. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. There is no set recipe for minestrone since it can be usually made out of whatever vegetables one has.
Ingredients
1 small size onion chopped
4-5 slices of bacon, sliced into small pieces
4 chicken thighs
5 cups water to cook the chicken broth ( or 4 cups vegetable broth and 1 cup water)
3 cloves of freshly chopped garlic
1 tsp Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1 large carrot thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh peas
1 potato cubed
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, with liquid
1/2 cup elbow noodles ( I often use some spaghetti noodles)
1 tsp Italian Seasoning ( 1 pinch Oregano, 1 pinch Thyme, 1 pinch Rosemary)
1 Bay Leaf
3 TBSP Olive Oil
1 tsp Tumeric
2 tsp lemon juice
Directions
1. Using a Dutch oven or stockpot start out by sauteeing the onions and garlic and bacon in some olive oil over medium heat.
2. Rinse the chicken and add to the pot
3. Season with salt, Tumeric and Italian seasoning, then add water just so that the chicken is covered. Cover the pot with a lid and cook on med-high until chicken is almost soft ca 20 minutes.
4. Remove the lid. Add the diced tomatoes, potatoes, spaghetti, peas and carrots to the pot and cook until noodles and potatoes are soft as well. Cook for another 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
5. Remove the bay leave and season with lemon juice and pepper to taste.
To garnish you can sprinkle some parmesan cheese and cilantro.
