Chickpea Minestrone with Garden Veggies and Herbs
Ingredients
- 1 box pasta
- 2 cans chickpeas
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups chopped mixed or frozen vegetables
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 onion
- 2Tbsp Italian seasoning or oregano
- 2Tbsp fresh cilantro or basil
- crushed red pepper
- salt and black pepper according to taste preferences
Preparation
Saute 4 cloves chopped garlic and 1 chopped onion in 1tsp olive oil in a big pot for 5 mins until caramelizing
Add 3 cups diced vegetables, whatever you have..I found in my fridge 3 stalks celery, 3 potatoes, 3 yellow carrots and the bottom part of a butternut squash and chopped them all up in small cubes and threw them in. Cook for 5 mins
Add about 10 cups of water, 2 cans of chickpeas and 1 can crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. As summer starts rolling and the tomatoes are abundant start using fresh ones here instead of canned and saute them with the vegetables instead
Season with whatever herbs you have: I used 2Tbsp Italian seasoning, 1 tbsp oregano, 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, 1 tsp Trader Joes umami seasoning, salt and black pepper. Cook 15 mins for all flavors to meld. If your herb garden is poppin, don’t be shy, throw in some mint, parsley, thyme, whatever you have will be delectable
Cook pasta separate and only add when serving. Pasta gets all blown up if you add directly to soup which is so bogus IMO
Garnish with fresh cilantro, and copious crushed red pepper
