Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe

As soon as the weather begins to turn you can bet that I’ll be making soup.  While I love all things summer, including it’s seasonal produce, I can’t wait to make soup.  I’ve always said that it’s my first true love, sorry Lindsay J so that’s why I hooked up this super delicious Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe.

I have to admit I’ve been eating a bit poorly lately because I’ve been traveling and have just been all out busy, so the first thing I wanted to make sure and do was to include lots of delicious vegetables and legumes into this Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe.

I used Bob’s Red Mill® Red Kidney and Great Northern Beans in this recipe because they simmer well and provide a ton of delicious flavor!  Soak them over night before cooking 🙂

That’s right, my diet’s been so bad that kale was a must to incorporate into this Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe.  Don’t get me wrong I love kale, but let’s be honest it’s like the poster boy veg for being healthy!

Peanut butter without Jelly? Ham with out Burger?  Soup with out bread?  I don’t think so!  Hooked up some super easy to make herb and cheese crostini’s made from a French baguette.  Or, feel free to dip in your favorite, I won’t judge I promise.

If you ever get the chance to eat with my dad you would have thought he’d been a waiter at the Olive Garden because the dude puts about 2 cups of shredded Parmesan onto everything.  He actually may be on to something because it is insanely delicious, especially on soups!

Load up your soup with crispy prosciutto, Parmesan cheese, cooked Ditali pasta, fresh oregano, fresh basil, kale and crositinis!  BOOM SON!

Lot’s of flavor and lot’s of pretty colors in this soup!  IT IS IMPERATIVE that you keep the kale and cooked pasta separate and simply add them into the bowl you plan on eating out of or else you are going to have some overly wilted slushly kale and noodles and it’s going to resemble porridge not soup, so get your priorities straight and keep’em separate!

Was clearly in a picture taking frenzy, sorry but it looks good 🙂

Another…

One more way up close and then I’m out I promise!

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5 from 1 vote

Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe

Warm up with a delicious bowl of this Italian Vegetable Minestrone Recipe with herb crostini!

Author: Chef Billy Parisi

Ingredients

For the Soup:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 ounces of julienne prosciutto ham slices
• 2 pounds of loose mild Italian sausage
• 1 ounce of unsalted butter
• 1 small diced large sweet onion
• 6 medium diced stalks of celery
• 6 thinly sliced carrots
• 6 cloves of finely minced garlic
• 3 medium diced zucchini
• 2 cups of soaked Bob’s Red Mill® Red Kidney Beans
• 2 cups of soaked Bob’s Red Mill® Great Northern Beans
• two 28 ounce cans of whole peeled plum tomatoes in juice
• 64 ounces of vegetable stock
• 2 Parmesan rinds
• 1 pound of cooked Ditali pasta
• 2 bunches of trimmed fresh kale
• fresh oregano for garnish
• fresh chiffonade basil for garnish
• fresh shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

For the Crositinis:

• 1 French baguette sliced on a bias
• 3 ounces of melted unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon of dry basil
• 1 teaspoon of dry oregano
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• ¼ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

• For the Crostini’s: Preheat the oven to 350°
• Place the baguette slices on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and brush the melted butter evenly on all of them.
• Next, sprinkle all of the ingredients over the bread and bake in the oven on 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly brown and crispy. Set aside.
• For the Soup: In a very large pot on high heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil add in the julienne prosciutto and cook until crispy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
• Remove the prosciutto from the pot and set aside, and add in the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the Italian sausage until lightly browned and cooked through out.
• Remove the sausage and set aside and add in the butter followed up with the onions, celery, carrots and garlic and and roast over medium high heat until they become browned, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Next, add in the zucchini, beans, tomatoes, stock, cooked Italian sausage and rinds, and simmer over low heat for 1 hour.
• Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and serve with fresh oregano, basil, Parmesan cheese and herb crostini’s.