Minestrone Soup...Perfect for these cold nights!

I make a lot of soup in the winter. It's awesome because I can bring it in for lunch for a week and still have SO much left over to freeze for another time or give to my parents and sisters.

I like a lot of "stuff" in my soup. I found this Minestrone Soup on a blog I follow called http://www.livelovepasta.com/.

There's a lot of ingredients in this soup so it took a while to get everything prepped. Totally worth it.

Here it goes...and oh yeah, HAPPY NEW YEARS!!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED (besides a bigger cutting board):


- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ pound pancetta, diced
         **I bought this from the deli counter and they sliced it too thin and I broke apart in the soup too much. Make    sure to get it sliced thick!

- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 carrots
          **I had baby carrots on hand so I just sliced them into thin pieces

- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes and juice
- 2 10.5 oz cans beef broth
           **I bought 2 cans but should have bought 3 or 4. Sometimes you need to add more broth after the soup sits for a while. This time I just added more water.

- 1 10.5 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups water
- 1 large handful green beans, ends removed and cut in half
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 small zucchinis, diced
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dried marjoram
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
          **I used Pecorino Remaggio
- 1 cup small pasta
       **I used Ditalini shaped

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the chopped pancetta. 

Add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the celery and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes

Add the tomatoes breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
Add the 2 cans of beef broth.
Add the zucchini, potatoes, green beans, cannellini beans.
Add the chopped parsley and dried herbs.

Last...add the cooked pasta!

Serve with freshly grated cheese and bread
(I thought about this too late but should have toasted the bread or put it on the grill pan real quick...next time!)


Happy New Years to all!!