Minestrone Soup With Kidney Beans

This hearty minestrone soup loaded with Kidney beans, pasta and with the healthy goodness of vegetables is full of flavors and is just a perfect treat on a chilly winter evening. This thick chunky minestrone soup is vegan, one-pot meal that uses homemade vegetable broth and tomato puree as a base. Mixed Italian herbs, garlic and black pepper corn are the main flavoring agents. A steaming bowl of this delicious minestrone soup is both filling and warming. Serve it on its own or top it with some grated cheese to treat yourself. You can also pair it with garlic bread or homemade bread stick and some salad for a healthy dinner.

What is a Minestrone Soup?

Minestrone is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice, or sometimes both. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock and tomatoes.

What is the difference between Pasta e Fagioli and Minestrone?

The main difference between pasta e fagioli and minestrone is that minestrone has loads of different vegetables in it while pasta e fagioli which literally means pasta and beans has beans with onion and or garlic for flavor, usually rosemary , and sometimes tomato but no other vegetable.

What goes into this Minestrone Soup?

You can add any bean of your choice into a minestrone soup like the garbanzo beans or kidney beans. Here, i  have used red kidney beans. I have used dry beans, soaked them overnight and boiled before adding it to the soup. You may used canned ones instead if you wish. Just rinse and drain it before use. I have used vegetables like onion, garlic and baby carrots and tomato in this soup. You may add green beans, celery, parsley, spinach leaves also. Any type of pasta can be used in minestrone soup. I have used Durum wheat semolina macaroni here. You may choose to use both canned tomatoes and chopped ones. I have used homemade tomato puree instead, made by pulsing the blanched and de-skinned tomatoes. In a vegan version of minestrone soup use olive oil. Others may add butter and olive oil in equal proportion. I have used mixed dried Italian herbs and freshly ground black pepper in this recipe.

Related Event: 

I am submitting this healthy and nutritious Minestrone Soup with Kidney Beans to the A to Z recipe challenge group, a gourmet group on Facebook where i post every alternate month. Members of this group post different food recipes with a key ingredient having particular alphabet. As per the alphabetical order, this month we had to cook a dish starting with alphabet K. I chose Kidney Beans  as my key ingredient and made this comforting Minestrone soup using it.  This post is my 10th contribution towards this group. The other recipes i have shared here, so far are

• Aliv Kheer / Garden Cress Seeds Jaggery Pudding for Alphabet "J"
• Ivy Gourd Stir-Fry  for Alphabet "I"
• Horse Gram Idli  for Alphabet "H"
• Punjabi Kadhi Pakora / Gram flour Fritters in Yogurt Gravy for Alphabet "G"
• Ankurit Methichi Usal / Sprouted Fenu Greek Seeds Stir- Fry for Alphabet "F"
• Achari Baingan / Eggplant in Pickling Spices for Alphabet "E"
• Dates and Walnut Muffins  for Alphabet "D"
• Coconut Curry Leaves Chutney for Alphabet "C"
• Broccoli Paneer Paratha for Alphabet "B"

                                                           

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves:4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup red kidney beans, soaked and boiled 
• 1/2 cup dry macaroni or any other pasta of your choice
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 cup tomato puree 
• 2 cup vegetable broth
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb blend
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon black pepper corn, crushed
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add minced garlic followed by finely chopped onion. Saute on medium to high heat until translucent. Add carrots and other veggies if using. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. 

2. Next, add the boiled kidney beans and  tomato puree. Mix everything well and stir in the vegetable broth.

3. Season the soup with dried Italian herbs, black pepper and salt and allow the soup to boil and then simmer for about 10 minutes.

4. Add macaroni to the soup and cook it until tender. Put off the flame and garnish the minestrone soup with fresh parsley .

5. Serve the delicious and healthy minestrone soup with Kidney Beans steaming hot, topped with freshly ground black pepper and grated Parmesan cheese if using and enjoy it with your loved ones!

Recipe Notes:

• I have roughly referred the recipe from here
• You can substitute garbanzo bean or other bean of your choice in this minestrone soup.
• If using canned kidney beans, rinse, drain and then use them. I have used dry red kidney beans soaked overnight and then boiled in pressure cooker until soft. The beans should be cooked well but should not be mushy and should hold shape.
• Vegetables like celery, green beans, zucchini, spinach can be added to this soup. Make sure you chop all the vegetables in the same size.
• You may use chicken stock instead of the vegetable stock. If you do not have either of them handy , use plain water, though taste will not be the same if using water.
• You may use both tomato puree and chopped tomatoes in this recipe. 
• To make tomato puree at home, add washed tomatoes to boiling water and cook for 3-5 minutes. Peel the tomatoes on cooling and pulse it to a smooth puree.
• To make an easy one pot vegetable stock at home i simply add chopped veggies like carrots, onion, garlic, herbs, bay leaf and some black pepper (plus the stalks and trimmings of the veggies in my refrigerator) to a pressure cooker with 4 cups water and pressure cook for 2 whistles and then simmer for 10 minutes. Strain on cooling. Discard the veggies and use the stock as needed. However if you do not have time to make vegetable stock at home you may use store bought one or simply add water if it is not handy.
• Any pasta variety may be used in this minestrone soup. I have used durum wheat semolina Macaroni.
• The original recipe used Italian herbs like basil, oregano, thyme and marjoram. I substituted it with dried Italian herb blend. 
• Leftover soup can be refrigerated up to 2-3 days. The soup soaks up the broth, so you may need to add warm water and reheat the soup before use. 
• If you intend to make a large batch and refrigerate for later use, i would suggest not to add pasta in the whole lot as the pasta turns soggy.
• I personally prefer a minestrone soup with less broth, if you like it to be more of a soupy consistency, feel free to add more water to the soup while boiling it and put off the flame accordingly as the soup does soak up the broth further on cooling.
• You can serve this delicious minestrone soup on its own as it does not need any accompaniment however, you may pair it with bread stick or garlic bread and some salad for a hearty healthy evening meal.

I hope a few of you would love to try out this recipe. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the comment section below this post. All your suggestions are also more than welcome. If you like my work and feel it is worth following, do hit the follow button at the top right corner of this blog. Your appreciation means a lot to me. For more recipes and new updates follow us on social media.

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If you are looking for more soup varieties, do check out the following from this blog:

• Spinach Soup

                              

• Detox Quinoa Vegetable Soup

                              

• Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

                              

• Tomato Soup

                              

• Cream of Mushroom Soup with Garlic Bread

                               

• Watermelon Gazpecho

                               

• Spanish Chickpea and Spinach Stew