You don’t need piles of dirty dishes and complicated ingredients to make a delicious and healthy meal. Tuscan Vegetable Soup is a one-pot wonder: lots of nutritious, delicious veggies, topped with basil and melted Italian cheese!
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 large yellow onion
- 3 celery ribs
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup red potatoes
- 5 carrots
- 4 cups homemade or canned chicken stock
- 2 Tbsp. fresh basil or 2 tsp. dried
- 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried
- 1/2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary or 1/2 tsp. dried
- 1/2 Tbsp. fresh oregano or 1/2 tsp. dried
- 1 small zucchini
- 1 cup cabbage
- 1 can cannellini beans or small white beans
- 2 fresh tomatoes or 1 can stewed tomatoes
- Salt and pepper
- Pecorino, Parmesan or favorite hard Italian cheese
- Fresh basil
Instructions:
- Heat oil in large stock pot.
- Dice onion and celery ribs, and add to pot, along with minced garlic. Saute for 5 minutes.
- Dice potatoes, and peel and dice carrots. Add to pot with stock and herbs.
- Simmer about 10 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften.
- Chop zucchini into bite-size pieces and cut cabbage into small, thin ribbons.
- Drain and rinse beans.
- Dice fresh tomatoes, if using.
- Add zucchini, cabbage, beans and tomatoes to pot.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Simmer until vegetables are barely soft.
- Top with freshly grated cheese and ribbons of fresh basil. Don’t skip this step! It becomes a magic bowl of goodness with the fresh basil and cheese!
Notes:
- This soup is definitely best when using fresh herbs, not dried!
- If a thicker base is desired, puree some of the soup once it is cooked and stir back in.
- This makes a lot of soup, but it freezes well. If freezing, leave out potatoes, as they tend to get mushy in the freezer. Add cooked potatoes, cheese and extra fresh herbs after thawing.
For more recipes like this, visit Kiwi & Carrot, produced by our food blogger, Sarah Romero.
