Loaded Veggies Italian Minestrone Soup

Italian minestrone is the kind of soup that doubles as dinner. This loaded version stacks chopped spinach, green bell peppers, carrots, celery, and onion against a rich chicken broth and tomato sauce base, then drops in elbow macaroni and red kidney beans for a bowl that sticks to your ribs without weighing you down.

The trick to deep flavor is the first move: sweat the bell pepper, carrot, celery, and onion in butter until they go soft and start smelling sweet. That base is where minestrone gets its body. Once the broth and tomato hit the pot, the pasta cooks right in the soup, soaking up flavor as it goes.

A shower of grated Romano on top sharpens everything with a salty, nutty edge. Crusty bread on the side is a must.

Kitchen Tips

• Salt the vegetables lightly as they sweat. This pulls moisture and concentrates flavor early.
• If you plan to store leftovers, cook the macaroni separately and add it to each bowl. Pasta cooked in the soup keeps drinking liquid in the fridge and turns mushy.
• Drain and rinse canned kidney beans before adding to cut down on excess sodium.
• Stir in spinach right before serving rather than at the boil to keep it bright green and tender.
• A splash of red wine vinegar at the end wakes up the whole pot.

Variations

• Vegetarian: swap chicken broth for vegetable broth and use olive oil instead of butter.
• Tuscan twist: add a parmesan rind while simmering and use cannellini beans in place of kidney.
• Sausage lover: brown crumbled Italian sausage with the aromatics before adding broth.