Pam’s Minestrone Soup

Some times you need a super hearty soup for dinner. Especially when your kitchen is in chaos of a remodel and you are relegated to cooking dinner for a family of six in a slow cooker. So you start to look at what you have on hand and what you can cream. The result is Pam’s Minestrone Soup – beans, corn, sausage, pasta, tomatoes, and zucchini. It is hearty comfort food that will warm you up in the winter months.

There is a wide variety of minestrone recipes out there. Some have garbanzo beans, some have elbow pasta, some have green beans, some have carrots. It really runs the gambit. What I really think it comes down to is a meat, pasta, bean and veggie soup. It strikes me as the original fridge clean out or end of the food bill type meal. Which absolutely does not mean that it can’t be to tasty like nothing. With some staple spices and herbs, you can turn so many dishes into deliciousness.

This soup is so super hearty, so it doesn’t necessarily need a side. But as with most soups, you want a bread product to sop up the broth. I served it with some St. Pierre Buttered Mini Croissants. This would also be yum with some Hawaiian rolls. If you wanted to avoid additional carbs, you could do a green salad on the side.

Now Let’s Get Cookin’!

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Pam’s Minestrone Soup

A homecook's take on the classic Minestrone Soup in a slow cooker.

Course Main Course, Soup

Cuisine American

Keyword chicken sausage, hearty soup, kidney beans, Pasta, slow cooker, soup, zucchini

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Slow Cooking Time 6 hours hours

Servings 6

Equipment

• 1 Slow Cooker (at least 6 qts)

Ingredients

• ½ Yellow Onion diced
• 5 Garlic Cloves minced
• 8 Chicken Sausage Links Italian-style, chopped
• 2 15 oz cans Kidney Beans
• 2 15 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can Sweet Corn
• 1½ qt Vegetable Broth
• 1 tbsp Rosemary
• ½ cup Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Medium Zucchini halved and sliced
• 1 lb Ditalini
• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese shredded

Instructions

• Add onion, garlic, sausage, beans, tomatoes, corn, red pepper flakes, rosemary, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and salt to slow cooker. Secure lid and cook for 5½ hours on low.
• Remove lid and stir in zucchini and pasta. Re-secure lid and cook another 30 minutes.
• Serve with sprinkle of parmesan cheese.