Recipe | My 2nd Favorite Vegetable Soup
Some weeks, I feel like I blog more about food than anything else, especially my children. Maybe it has something to do with the photos. Food is a much more cooperative subject. It stays still, it doesn't pull funny faces, it happily stays put in the best light. But I promise, I'm not turning food blogger on you. I've found though, that I do go in phases with my posts and my current one seems to be centered around eating.
Saturday it was chilly and rainy and I was craving vegetable soup. We stayed in our Pjs till about 12:00 until I faked a call from The Fresh Market. Apparently, they had spotted ghosts stealing from the store and needed a Ghost Buster Team stat. "Who You Gonna Call?" {Charlie spends most waking hours as Ghost Buster these days, with a make shift Proton Pack and a Ghost Bust-Ta-La-Tor {his term} for zapping ghosts.}
I gotta tell you, I've never seen 3 kids move faster. Andrew, friend Payton, and Charlie were in the Ghost Buster mobile in less than 5 minutes and we were on our way, singing, "there's something weird, and it don't look good..." Once in the store, the three took off in a very stealth and silent ghost search while I shopped in peace filling the cart with necessary ingredients. Come on. Brilliant, right? I thought so.
My favorite vegetable soup in my Mum's but it is an all day, labor intensive affair, that I have been too intimidated {not to mention short on time} to tackle. Over the years, I tried others in the hopes they would bring a bit of the same tasty comfort but they've all greatly disappointed, until I tried this one. I think the secret is in the mashed up cannellini beans that are added to the broth. It gives the soup body and really good flavor that you just can't get with broth and tomatoes alone. I've made a few tweaks to the original recipe to suit our liking. Charlie LOVES this soup and gobbles it down with gusto and much appreciation. Andrew, not so much, but 1 out of 2 isn't bad! And it works just as well for a spring meal as it does for a winter one thanks to the mix of vegetables.
INGREDIENTS
15 oz cannellini beans, drain + rinse
2 TBS olive oil
1 c onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1.5 cup zucchini, peeled + diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
32 oz chicken broth
2.5 oz rough chopped baby spinach
14.5 oz fire roasted, diced, tomatoes
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl mash half the beans with a masher and set aside.
Heat oil in a large soup pot {I use a large Le Creuset dutch oven} over med high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes until vegetables are soft. Add broth and tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil. Add the mashed beans and whole beans and spinach and let simmer for 35-45 minutes over low heat. I topped the soup with little Parmesan + thyme toasted baguette slices that I put under the broiler for a couple minutes.
PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE
(recipe adapted from here)
*parental disclaimer ~ my boys have not actually seen the movie Ghost Busters. charlie just loves the song and the youtube video of a ghost buster themed party. just making sure... i know you were a bit worried. :)
Saturday it was chilly and rainy and I was craving vegetable soup. We stayed in our Pjs till about 12:00 until I faked a call from The Fresh Market. Apparently, they had spotted ghosts stealing from the store and needed a Ghost Buster Team stat. "Who You Gonna Call?" {Charlie spends most waking hours as Ghost Buster these days, with a make shift Proton Pack and a Ghost Bust-Ta-La-Tor {his term} for zapping ghosts.}
I gotta tell you, I've never seen 3 kids move faster. Andrew, friend Payton, and Charlie were in the Ghost Buster mobile in less than 5 minutes and we were on our way, singing, "there's something weird, and it don't look good..." Once in the store, the three took off in a very stealth and silent ghost search while I shopped in peace filling the cart with necessary ingredients. Come on. Brilliant, right? I thought so.
My favorite vegetable soup in my Mum's but it is an all day, labor intensive affair, that I have been too intimidated {not to mention short on time} to tackle. Over the years, I tried others in the hopes they would bring a bit of the same tasty comfort but they've all greatly disappointed, until I tried this one. I think the secret is in the mashed up cannellini beans that are added to the broth. It gives the soup body and really good flavor that you just can't get with broth and tomatoes alone. I've made a few tweaks to the original recipe to suit our liking. Charlie LOVES this soup and gobbles it down with gusto and much appreciation. Andrew, not so much, but 1 out of 2 isn't bad! And it works just as well for a spring meal as it does for a winter one thanks to the mix of vegetables.
15 oz cannellini beans, drain + rinse
2 TBS olive oil
1 c onion, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
1.5 cup zucchini, peeled + diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS fresh thyme, chopped
2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
32 oz chicken broth
2.5 oz rough chopped baby spinach
14.5 oz fire roasted, diced, tomatoes
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl mash half the beans with a masher and set aside.
Heat oil in a large soup pot {I use a large Le Creuset dutch oven} over med high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, garlic, thyme, sage, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes until vegetables are soft. Add broth and tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil. Add the mashed beans and whole beans and spinach and let simmer for 35-45 minutes over low heat. I topped the soup with little Parmesan + thyme toasted baguette slices that I put under the broiler for a couple minutes.
PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE
(recipe adapted from here)
*parental disclaimer ~ my boys have not actually seen the movie Ghost Busters. charlie just loves the song and the youtube video of a ghost buster themed party. just making sure... i know you were a bit worried. :)