Minestrone Soup To Warm Your Heart

Delicious, good for you and looks great on the table.. an almost perfect meal.
Serve it with hot fresh rolls and butter, a salad on the side. Yum!

Gather up these ingredients:

1/2 c. olive oil
1 c. thinly sliced yellow onion
1 c. diced celery
1 1/2 c. fresh white beans
1 c. diced green beans
2 c. canned beef broth
2/3 c. canned Italian tomatoes, with their juice
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Crust for a 1-2 lb. piece or Parmesan cheese (optional)
3 tbsp. butter
1 c. diced carrots
2 c. peeled diced potatoes
2 c. diced zucchini
3 c. shredded cabbage
4 c. water


Place the oil, butter, and sliced onion and cook over medium low heat until the onion wilts and is pale gold in color but not browned. Add the diced carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring a couple times. Repeat with your celery, potatoes, white beans (can substitute 1 1/2 cups canned cannellini beans or Great Northern beans rather than fresh and this saves cooking time , believe me!But if canned.. add at the end not now.), zucchini, and green beans, cooking each one a few minutes and stirring. Then add the shredded cabbage and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Now it is time for the broth, water, cheese crust, tomatoes, and their juice, and a little bit of salt. Cover and cook at a very slow boil for at least 3 hours. If necessary, you can stop the cooking at any time and resume it later on.
Minestrone should be thick, never watery.
You can always add more water if its too thick..but thick is good.
Before you are done, add the canned beans to heat them throught and then serve the soup hot.
It will serve 6 to 8 people and keeps in the fridge for a week.
Enjoy.