Minestrone, anyone?

Yesterday was a beautiful, crisp autumn day...I was in heaven. This is my favorite time of year. I love the weather...I love Halloween and Thanksgiving...this time of year just makes me happy. I always feel so refreshed. Yesterday was the kind of day that called for a big pot of soup. So I scoured the pantry shelves and the fridge and found that I had the ingredients to make minestrone soup...or at least MY version, anyway!

Since I was making it up as I went along...using as my inspiration the ingredients used by one of the locally owned italian restaurants here in town...I made some changes after the fact. For example, last night in my experiment recipe I used a whole package of frozen spinach. It was WAY too much. I actually removed some of it because it was so overbearing. So in the recipe below I changed it to either HALF of a package of frozen or 1-2 cups fresh spinach. I also only added one can of beans. I happen to love beans so next time I make it I'll add two cans...one can of white beans and one can of kidney beans for color and texture.

After some changes this is what I came up with. (It even got a good review from my husband who's "not a soup kinda guy"!)

Mimi's Minestrone

2 tblsp. olive oil

1 yellow onion - chopped

2 garlic cloves - minced

2 carrots - peeled and cut into half moons

2 ribs celery - sliced

1 can beef broth

1 can chopped italian stewed tomatoes

1 can white beans - rinsed

1 can kidney beans - rinsed

2 cups water

1 tblsp italian seasoning

1 -2 cups fresh spinach (your preference)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large soup pot heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and saute until vegetables are tender and onion is translucent. Add beef broth, stewed tomatoes, beans, water and italian seasoning and stir to combine. Raise heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, add spinach, salt and pepper and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. 10 minutes before serving, add the parmesan cheese and stir well. This gives the soup a thicker consistency and tastes wonderful! Serve with french bread.

Makes 6 servings