Minestrone

This is what I used to make my first ever pot of minestrone soup.  Next time I will not use 1 1/2 cups of pasta.  By the time the pasta had fully cooked and the soup sat in the pot, it had absorbed too much of the liquid.  I like the broth on soups so I added an additional 2 cups of water plus 2 tsp. of chicken bouillon granules.

This makes 4 quarts.

MINESTRONE

1/2 medium onion, diced

2 small carrots, diced

2 ribs celery, sliced

1 can kidney beans

1 can great northern beans

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can green beans

4 T. tomato puree

¾ cup frozen peas

2 cups fresh baby spinach

Dried parsley

Garlic powder

½ tsp. fennel seeds

1 ½ cups penne regate pasta

2 cups water

3 tsp. chicken bouillon powder

Sweat onion, celery, and carrots until almost done.  Add undrained beans and remaining ingredients except pasta.  Simmer until spinach and peas are tender.

Add pasta and cook until pasta is desired consistency.

***Pasta can be cooked separately and added to soup.  You can store the soup and add pasta as you need to use.  That way the broth won't be totally absorbed into the pasta.