Minestrone Soup

When I was in CLT my friend Lauren made this copy cat minestrone soup on a cold winter day.  People say they don't like minestrone soup because it doesn't usually have a lot of flavor, but this one is out of this world delicious.  Of course we are adding a little hamburger to our soup which it doesn't need, since we do meat in these parts for every meal, well at least the men have to have it.  It's a cold winter, but beautiful day here today, so we are making this and zuppa tuscano soup.  We will be eating a lot of soup in the coming days, but so yummy.  Of course this always pairs well with mom's homemade bread which is in the oven as we speak!

Olive Garden Copycat Minestrone Soup {Slow Cooker}

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced celery (3 stalks)
• 1 cup diced carrots (2 carrots)
• 1 cup diced yellow onion (1 small)
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/3 cups diced zucchini (1 small)
• 1 1/3 cups shell pasta
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can white navy beans or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can Italian green beans, drained
• 2 cups slightly packed chopped fresh spinach
• Finely shredded Romano cheese, for serving (Parmesan works too)

Directions

• Add vegetable stock, water, tomatoes, celery, carrots, onion, parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and sugar to a 6 or 7-quart slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook on low heat 6 - 8 hours or high 3 - 4 hours.
• Add in zucchini, pasta, garlic, kidney beans and white beans and cook on high heat and additional 30 - 40 minutes until pasta is tender. Stir in spinach and Italian green beans and cook several minutes until heated through. Serve warm topped with Romano cheese.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy