Minestrone Soup

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Ingredients:

• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 ribs of celery, chopped
• 1 leek, cut into rounds
• 1 zucchini, cut in cubes with skin on
• ½ tsp. died oregano
• ½ tsp. dried thyme
• 1 large potato, skin on, scrubbed and diced
• 1 x 19 oz. can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained well
• 1 x 28 oz. can San Marzano whole tomatoes, with liquid
• ½ pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half
• 2 cups green cabbage, chopped
• 4 cups of vegetable stock
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• Pinch of chili flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup elbow or small shelled pasta
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the garlic, red onion, carrots, celery, leek, zucchini, oregano and thyme and stir until well mixed. Stir frequently and cook for about 15 minutes until fragrant and the vegetables are softened.

Add the diced potatoes, cannellini beans, tomatoes with the juice (break the tomatoes with your hands), green beans, cabbage, vegetable stock, water, tomato paste, chili flakes and bay leaves to the pot. Raise the heat to medium high, stir well and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the pasta to the pot and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.

Notes:

• If the soup is very thick, add more water when cooking.
• Leftovers will need more liquid so add some water when re-heating.
• You can add other vegetables - yellow squash, peas, sweet potato and butternut squash cubes work well too.