Showing posts with label carrot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carrot. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2012

Italian-Style Vegetable Soup


When you ponder the fate of the literal fruits of your labor, a.k.a. the summer vegetable garden harvest, my guess is that soup isn’t the first thing to come to mind.  However, if you are one of the lucky people able to grow zucchini and reap its bounteous reward, then give this some thought.  As I’ve mentioned before, I have absolutely no luck growing zucchini, so I use Melissa’s, but my lack of zucchini growing skills doesn’t stop me from making this delicious soup recipe that my mother has been serving us for as long as I can remember.  It makes a large pot so there is plenty to share, takes a mere 45 minutes from start to finish, and freezes quite nicely so you can enjoy it in the winter months as well.

Italian Style Vegetable Soup

1 or 2 large onions totaling 1 pound
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup diced carrots
¾ cup diced celery
1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups cubed zucchini
1 teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon minced garlic (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 cups cooked navy beans (or 1 15-oz. can)
6 cups beef broth
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Peel and coarsely chop onions.  Heat oil in a large stock pot, add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté for five minutes.  Add tomatoes.  Stir in zucchini, basil, oregano, garlic, beans and broth.  Cover.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve topped with ample gratings of fresh Parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!

Looking for more soup recipes?  This book is my absolute favorite!

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