A Hearty Veggie Soup with Friends

Some of my friends and I have reached the age where it is not uncommon to lose a spouse to death. Often it's the wife who is left to find her own way through grief and towards a new life without the love of her life. Fortunately I still have Sweetie to enjoy time with and, even more fortunately in some ways, he is sweet about having a dear friend who lost her husband six months ago come and have dinner with us now and then. If you are used to eating with others it's tough to face eating alone night after night. So much more fun to eat with friends.

We had the pleasure of Paula's company tonight, but this time she insisted on bringing a main dish soup, and the dessert. Usually we provide the main dish and dessert and she brings a salad or side dish, so it was fun to turn it around, plus, she brought a wonderful, hearty, veggie packed soup that sounds like it is easy to make. We served it with freshly baked corn bread and a salad of avocado, cucumber and some of the last of our home grown tomatoes, dressed with a balsamic dressing. 

I suspect that you could play around a lot with this soup, adding and subtracting a bit with the ingredients as you like, and it would still be a winner! I plan on making it myself soon.

Paula's Veggie and Sausage Soup
Serves 6

1 already cooked sausage...chicken apple is good, but Italian would be great, too
1 tablespoon olive oil or ghee butter
1/2 white or yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon (4 cloves) minced garlic
1 cup mixed frozen vegetables
1 can Amy's Hearty Minestrone soup
1 can Amy's Low Fat Minestrone soup
1 can baked beans (she used Bush's Vegetarian Baked Beans)

 In a skillet sauté  the onion with the sausage (which you have cubed) until the onion is soft. Add the minced garlic and cook over medium-low heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.

Transfer the sausage mixture to a soup pot and add the mixed veggies, the canned minestrone soups, and the canned baked beans. Add water until the consistency you like. Simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

A Great Minestrone Soup

I suspect that every Italian cook has their own version of this soup. I read the recipe recently on the Washington Post newsletter Voraciously for this version, but, of course, made a few changes myself.  Below the recipe in the newsletter there are variation, too.

To start with, I didn't have celery or carrots but I had the rest, so forged ahead. I used the chicken broth for the liquid and used gemelli pasta since that's what I had (I was making this at night once I saw the recipe...because I had the time and was inspired by the full flavors and the description). Instead of red beans, I used cannellini beans, because I like their velvety texture in a soup. I put the finished soup in the fridge to mellow overnight because my experience is that anything with onion is better the next day. It's a delicious version of this classic soup.

I'm giving you the recipe as it was in the Washington Post Newsletter. You get to make your own changes!!

Family Favorite Minestrone

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Servings: 6
Total time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 ribs celery, diced (1/2 cup)
• 1 large yellow onion (10 ounces), diced
• 1 large carrot (4.5 ounces), scrubbed well, then diced
• 1 medium red bell pepper (5 ounces), seeded and diced
• 1 medium zucchini (8 ounces), diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (28-ounce) can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
• 6 cups no-salt-added vegetable broth or chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added small red beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup dried, whole-grain or regular elbow pasta
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish

Steps

1. In a large pot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the celery, onion, carrot and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften, about 6 minutes.

2. Add the zucchini, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the flavors meld a bit, about 10 minutes.

3. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beans and pasta and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until the pasta and vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Divide among individual bowls, garnish each portion with the cheese and serve.