Big Pot Minestrone

Original Recipe

Good for meal prep for the week for 1 person or 4-6 people at once. Easy, tasty, minestrone soup that's good when it's cold.

You Need:

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 28-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
• 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
• 1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup elbow pasta
• 2 italian sweet sausages
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Equipment

• 1 big pot with a lid. Big enough to fit a whole chicken in and cover with water.
• knife for choppin'
• 3 small bowls
• 2 medium bowls (cereal size) for veggies
• peeler
• can opener
• measuring spoons
• small mortar and pestle
• wooden spoon

Steps:

Prep

• get the small bowls and the medium bowl out.
• peel the carrot and dice. Wash and dice the celery. Put both in the medium bowl.
• dice the onion. Place in small bowl.
• split the sausage casings with a knife and place the raw sausage in small bowl.
• mince garlic. Place in small bowl.
• grind up fennel seeds in mortar & pestle
• in same mortar & pestle, measure dried oregano and dried basil. grind together just a bit.
• trim and cut green beans into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in medium bowl.
• chop fresh basil.

Cook

• get the big pot and set on stove under medium heat. Put in olive oil and let it get hot for 1 minute.
• add the sausage and let the fat render. Crank up heat to medium high. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
• add the onion. Cook for 4 minutes or until translucent.
• add the garlic. Stir & cook for 30 seconds. Careful not to burn the garlic!
• add the celery and carrot and cook for 5 minutes or until they begin to soften. Fond should form at bottom of pot.
• add red wine and scrape with wooden spoon to dissolve fond.
• stir in the green beans, dried oregano and dried basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; cook 3 more minutes.
• add the diced and crushed tomatoes and the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes.
• stir in the kidney beans and pasta and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.