Minestrone Soup

It's Tuesday! Which means that due to the Memorial Day holiday, this week is a short one. Wooo Hooo! My weekend was...in a word...a whirlwind. T & I celebrated our one year anniversary with an impromptu trip to Minneapolis, and after packing a ton of fun into the weekend, we're ready to kick back and take it easy for the rest of this week!

 Enter minestrone. Packed with veggies, this soup has great flavor and was an excellent light dinner choice to cap off a very rainy and gloomy Memorial Day.

Step One: Gather the ingredients. Funny story...I totally forgot to include in my picture anything that was canned - enter diced tomatoes, canellini beans, beef broth. Know that you need them.

Step Two: Prep the veggies and pancetta (aka chop them up!) Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot, add the veggies and pancetta cooking for about 10 minutes, or until those onions are translucent. Add the broth, water, and parmesan, then let the soup simmer for a bit until everything is heated through. Add the beans and chopped parsley 5 min before serving. Season with salt and pepper and serve with grated Parmesan and some love :)

Recipe adapted from Food Network

MINESTRONE SOUP | Yield: 6-8 Servings | Total Time: 55 min

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3/4 C carrots, peeled & chopped (about 1/3 of a 1 lb. bag baby carrots or 4 carrots)
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 oz thinly sliced pancetta, coarsely chopped*
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb (1 bunch) Swiss chard, de-stemmed, leaves coarsely chopped
1 russet potato, peeled, cubed
1 (28.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
2 tsp dried rosemary (or 1 sprig fresh)
1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
3 (14-oz) cans low-sodium beef broth
1/4 C Parmesan cheese, shredded
1/4 C fresh Italian parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
Water as needed (I used 2.5 cups)

*NOTE: If you have trouble finding pancetta, substitute bacon. You can also just leave it out if you prefer a meatless soup.

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, pancetta, and garlic. Saute until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and potato; saute for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and rosemary. Simmer 10 minutes until the chard is wilted and the tomatoes break down.

Add the broth and Parmesan to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until the potato pieces are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in the beans and parsley. Simmer an additional 5 minutes until the beans are heated through. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.