Italian Minestrone Soup is an absolute classic! It's chock-full of vegetables, beans and pasta in a flavorful tomato-based broth. This recipe is a great jumping off point, but you can easily adjust and customize this soup to suit your taste!
2mediumcarrotspeeled, halved lengthwise, and sliced into ¼-inch pieces
2stalkscelerytrimmed and sliced into ¼-inch pieces
1 large or 2 smallYukon gold (or other waxy) potatoes(about 8 ounces) peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
1mediumzucchiniends trimmed and chopped into ½-inch pieces
2clovesgarlicminced or crushed
¼cupfinely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 ½teaspoonsfinely chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinchcrushed red chili flakes
1tablespoontomato paste
2cupscanned crushed or ground peeled tomatoes
1(15.5 ounce) canwhite cannellini beansdrained and rinsed
1Parmesan cheese rind(optional)
6cupsvegetable or chicken stock or broth
½cupsmall soup pastasuch as small shells, farfalline, ditalini, elbow macaroni, or acini di pepe
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook, stirring regularly, for about 4 minutes until starting to soften.
Add the potato, zucchini, garlic, parsley, and rosemary, and season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Stir regularly, and continue to cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat, cooking another 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the crushed tomatoes, beans, and the Parmesan cheese rind, if using. Then add the broth, raise the heat to bring to a simmer, then partially cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. Stir in the pasta and cook, uncovered, for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.
Remove the cheese rind from the soup, then ladle into mugs or bowls and serve topped with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino Romano cheese, if desired, alongside crusty Italian bread.
Notes
This is a very customizable soup, so don't feel that you have to stick to the recipe if you want to make changes. A couple of popular additions include green beans cut into 1-inch pieces and/or chopped leafy greens such as kale, spinach, or chard.
Italian minestrone soup usually includes beans, typically either white beans of some kind or kidney beans. I use canned cannellini beans which I drain and rinse, but you could also use great northern beans or small white beans which are both smaller than cannellini and are good in soup.
Oftentimes, the pasta in soup soaks in more of the broth after the first day and the leftovers can become a bit mushy. Using smaller pasta shapes definitely helps, but you can also cook the pasta separately and then mix some into each bowl of soup as needed when serving.