The great thing about minestrone is that there’s no set recipe for it. It was meant as a way to use seasonal ingredients to create an affordable and filling meal. As long as you have broth, onion, celery, tomato, beans and pasta, you have minestrone. My recipe uses ground turkey for some low-fat protein. It could just as easily be made with ground beef or without any meat and twice the amount of beans. This makes a lot of soup. Fortunately, it’s one of those foods that tastes better the second day.
Turkey Minestrone
Makes 6-8 Servings
Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon oregano
1 zucchini, chopped
1 14.5 oz. can diced, peeled tomatoes
8 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup mini farfalle or other small pasta
1 14.5 oz. can cannellini beans
1 tablespoon Italian parsley
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions
1. In a large pot, brown turkey with salt, pepper, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and oregano in olive oil. Stir occasionally.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add zucchini, and cook for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
4. Add pasta and cook 5 minutes.
5. Add beans and cook an additional 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.
My thoughts:
1. This recipe is a work in progress. I’m very happy with it but would like a little more vegetable flavor. Next time, I’ll make it with half chicken and half vegetable broth.
2. I served this with the rest of yesterday’s garlic-parmesan bread. It was fabulous dipped into the soup.
