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Winter Minestrone Soup

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This post is sponsored by Chickapea Pasta but all opinions and text are my own.  Thanks for supporting the brands that make Saving Room for Dessert possible.

An overhead view of a bowl of Winter Minestrone soup with fresh Baguette on the side

Winter Minestrone Soup ~ enjoy the rich, flavorful broth loaded with fresh seasonal vegetables, white beans and Chickapea Pasta!

Our Winter Minestrone Soup is quick and easy to make. It’s filling, healthy, hearty and delicious making it great for the whole family!

This is a very exciting soup recipe for me to share today because we’re introducing a new, amazing, smart carb pasta that‘s now available in the US!  

A bowl of Winter Minestrone Soup with fresh grated Parmesan on top

Winter Minestrone Soup is made with fresh vegetables and a smart carb pasta.

What is a smart carb pasta?

First, Chickapea Pasta is made with only 2 ingredients – organic chickpeas and lentils. It’s loaded with 27 grams of protein per serving, 8 grams of dietary fiber. It’s also rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals.

These smart-carbs are lower on the glycemic index (GI) than rice or corn based products which is important if you want to avoid spikes in your blood sugar.

Not only is Chickapea Pasta made from organic ingredients, it’s gluten free, non GMO, vegan, and kosher. With no preservatives, nothing artificial and no added sugar, that makes this pasta a stand-out on the super market shelves!

You can feel good about serving this pasta to your family without having to choose between quick or nutritious, it’s both.  Now this is something to get excited about!

 

A bowl of winter minestrone soup with beans, greens, carrots and fresh herbs

We were very excited, however a little skeptical, about what this pasta would taste like.

It’s not an easy thing to take a favorite family ingredient like pasta and substitute something new and different. It’s an understand to say we were pleasantly surprised!. We love both the flavor and texture of Chickapea Pasta so we are thrilled it to add our pantry.

These little pasta shells soaked up the rich flavor in the soup, they didn’t fall apart nor do they have a weird aftertaste. They are a bit chewier than “regular” pasta but that’s not a bad thing!

 

A bowl of Winter Minestrone soup with pasta, fresh grated Parmesan, vegetables and beans

This Winter Minestrone Soup is a one pot wonder.

Once you’ve made this soup, you’ll wonder why you don’t make it more often!

For this recipe I borrowed two little, but effective tricks from chef Giada De Laurentis. These simple steps add a ton of flavor and complexity to our Winter Minestrone Soup. First, while the soup is simmering, add a Parmesan cheese rind to the broth. This simple task adds an amazing amount of flavor this soup.

Next, I pureed half the cannellini beans with a little water before adding to the soup. This step transforms the broth to a thicker, satisfying slurp-able spoonful. Both brilliant, simple ways to set this soup apart from other broth based soups.

 

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A closeup of a bowl of winter minestrone soup with pasta, beans, greens and herbs

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5 from 1 vote

Winter Minestrone Soup

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Yield: 6
Course: Soup
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
Enjoy the rich, flavorful broth loaded with fresh seasonal vegetables, white beans and Chickapea Pasta!

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (45 mL)
  • 1 onion large, chopped
  • 3 carrots medium, peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 zucchini small, thick sliced and quartered
  • 1 potato (russet) peeled and cubed
  • 1 bunch Swiss chard ribs removed, leaves rough chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (5 mL)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (2.5 mL) more or less to taste
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (15 mL)
  • 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning (2.5 mL)
  • 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes (low salt), do not drain (407 mL)
  • 32 ounces vegetable broth (low salt) (960 mL)
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 14.5 ounces canned cannellini beans rinsed and drained (407 mL)
  • 1 cup water (250 mL)
  • 1 Parmesan rind
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (30 mL)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (30 mL)
  • 2 cups Chickapea Shell Pasta (cooked 5 minutes and drained) (280g)
  • Fresh grated or sliced Parmesan for garnish

Instructions

  • Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottom soup pot on medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring frequently until the onion is soft and translucent, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the garlic and sauté, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add the zucchini, potato and Swiss chard, season with pepper, salt, thyme and Italian Seasoning and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the canned tomatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the chard is wilted and tomatoes are soft, about 10 minutes.  
  • Add the vegetable broth, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind to the tomato and vegetable mixture. Combine 1/2 of the drained and rinsed cannellini beans with 1 cup of water and puree with a stick or immersion blender until almost smooth. (A regular blender or food processor are fine too.) Add the pureed beans to the soup and simmer, stirring occasionally until the potato is tender, about 15 minutes.
  • While the soup is simmering, cook the Chickapea Pasta in boiling, salted water for 5 minutes. For the shell shaped pasta, be sure to add it slowly to the boiling water, stirring to ensure the pasta does not stick together. Drain before adding to the soup.
  • Add the remaining beans, parsley, basil and cooked Chickapea Pasta shells. Simmer until the soup thickens and is heated through.  Discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind, check the seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.  
  • Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with additional fresh basil or parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese.

Recipe Notes

  • Save your Parmesan rinds in the freezer and add to soups and sauces for an extra punch of flavor. Some finer grocery stores sell Parmesan rinds in their cheese shops.
  • Substitute kale for the Swiss chard if desired. Fresh spinach leaves would also be great in this soup but don't add those until the end. Spinach wilts quickly and doesn't need much time to cook.
  • Any shape or variety of Chickapea Pasta will be great in this soup recipe.  
  • This soup also freezes beautifully!

Nutrition

Calories: 298kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 1058mg | Potassium: 1044mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 8884IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 5mg

Finally, follow the link for more information about stocking your pantry with all the delicious varieties of Chickapea Pasta for you and your family.

ChickaPea Pasta is also available on Amazon!  (Click on each photo for more information)

            

The small print: If you decide to purchase something at Amazon after following my affiliate link, I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog.

This post is sponsored by Chickapea Pasta but all opinions and text are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make Saving Room for Dessert possible.

 

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51 Comments

  1. Salli B. says

    5 stars
    I am vegan for lent every year. I was looking for a good perfectly balanced soup. I’m not a fan of super tomatoey minestrone soup but saw the picture of your recipe and I decided to try it. It was so delicious and had two bowls. It was so colorful and yummy. It made me forget my meat cravings. Thank you for sharing!

    reply to this comment >

  3. 2 Sisters Recipes says

    Great post Tricia! Your soup looks wonderful. Love the chard in it – happens to be our favorite vegetable. We have been using Parmesan rind in our soups for years, a trick we learned from our Italian friends while vacationing in Italy – great tip! Love this soup!

    reply to this comment >

  4. Karen (Back Road Journal) says

    While we don’t really have winter weather here in Florida, I do enjoy soups. I used to make minestrone soup whenever my husband was away on business trips. I’d make the base soup and then one day add a little pasta, the next day add chicken, etc. each meal a little different from the next. Your bowl of soup looks good.

    reply to this comment >

  6. Wendy says

    Gorgeous! The soup, the photos, the video, the recipe. Minestrone is a favorite and your tips truly take this soup up numerous notches! How exciting that a gluten free pasta is also carb friendly. I will be looking for it!

    reply to this comment >

  12. kristy @ she eats says

    Seriously? A reasonably mild WInter? I’m jealous. I’m in Vancouver and it’s snowing and raining and awful. I think you sent us your weather 😉 This soup is EXACTLY what I need right now. Nutritious. Warm. Inviting. And all kinds of YUM with that Chickapea Pasta in there. I too, was skeptical at first. But I’m converted (and I’m not even gluten-free)!! I’ll be making your minestrone soup this weekend, fo sho. It looks so good, dude. So good.

    reply to this comment >

  13. Monica says

    I’m excited to see this, Tricia, because I had just heard about chickpea pasta on The Kitchen and the hosts liked it so I’ve been on lookout for it. So far, I can’t find it in my local markets. I’m so glad to hear your testimonial…definitely worth trying. And soup always for the win! Can’t go wrong.

    reply to this comment >

  15. cheri says

    Hi Tricia, what a lovely soup, I love the idea of this pasta; will have to give it a try, I just picked up a red lentil pasta from Trader Joes that I am anxious to try. Your video was fantastic from start to finish and the music was perfect. Take care!

    reply to this comment >

  17. Pam says

    Great soup for winter, even if it’s way above normal in temps for here now. Interesting with Giada and the Parmesan rind. I read somewhere yesterday, a recipe of saving the rinds and making a soup stock of them in water and seasonings and freezing it until ready to make soup. And I mash some beans with a wooden spoon on the inside of the pot, instead of pureeing, same difference. Your mix of veggies in this is great, it sounds like a delicious minestrone, Tricia!

    reply to this comment >

  19. John/Kitchen Riffs says

    Cold weather certainly makes me crave soup, but I think it’s the winter light — or lack of it — that makes me want it even more. We’ve been having a reasonably mild winter, too, but we’re still having soup several times a week! Anyway, this looks terrific — such nice flavor. Thanks!

    reply to this comment >

  21. nocrumbsleft says

    I adore Minestrone and it’s so perfect for transitioning from season to season. I always love to use whats local and in season and this is perfect for that. What a genius idea to add the Chickapea Pasta with the nuttiness of the Chickapea pasta melding with the broth. Great idea and going to make it this weekend for dinner!

    reply to this comment >

  22. Robyn Gleason says

    Yummm! Can I come to your house and sit down to a big bowl of that soup, Tricia? It’s so full of the best kinds of whole foods and fabulous flavours! I always love a pasta in my soup for some added ‘oommphh’ and love knowing that this pasta is going to make the soup even healthier. Thanks for a terrific recipe! Sharing 🙂

    reply to this comment >

  25. Larry says

    I’ve never made Minestrone but this post makes me want to – looks and sounds delicious. Were I to see a box of chickpea pasta on the shelf, I would never have picked it up but now I might just have to give it a try.

    reply to this comment >

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