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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.
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!
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!
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!
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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Winter Minestrone Soup
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
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.
Salli B.
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!
Tricia Buice
Thanks Salli! So glad you enjoyed the soup. It is hard to come up with a nice variety of vegan dishes. I hope and pray that you and your family are safe, healthy and happy.
Ann
Have you ever tried to make this in a crockpot?
Tricia Buice
Hi Ann – No I have not only because it cooks quickly and doesn’t need a long time to simmer, etc. If you try it, I would just leave out the greens, beans and pasta until the end. It’s all good! Thanks for the great question.
2 Sisters Recipes
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!
Karen (Back Road Journal)
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.
Kathy Walker
Minestrone is a favorite at our house so I understand the trepidation when considering doing something different from the usual! I have not seen a chickpea pasta but I will take a look. It can never hurt to be adventurous and healthy!
Wendy
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!
Susan
This is the kind of soup I could enjoy any time of year, Tricia! What a beautiful bowl of deliciousness. I hadn’t heard of chickpea pasta before and can’t wait to find some!