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Good Monday to you! I have a little giveaway business to take care of and then…oh, then. The. Soup. I will tell you about this tasty soup of wonder.
But first and foremost…the winners of the Unbroken book giveaway are Jamie email addressjlhspalding@yahoo.com and Nancy email address [email protected]. Thanks to all those who entered and left such great book recommendations within your entry comments. I so enjoyed reading all of your suggestions. I loved that so many of you have high praise for The Hiding Place, These Is My Words, Left To Tell, The Help, and A Thousand Splendid Suns. These fine books are among my very favorites as well.
Ok. Now.
Brace your self for soup, my friends.
I’ve loved this hearty, fabulous tasting Meatball Minestrone Soup since the first day it touched my taste buds. A dear friend delivered a big steaming pot full to me shortly after I delivered my twin boys and I have loved it ever since. Why it has taken me so long to tell you about it…I do not know! I can be kind of slow, you know.
This beauty of a soup only takes about 15 minutes to prepare. I have a hunch that you like that sort of thing.
It has the wonderful flavor of a true Italian Minestrone Soup with the added bonus of hearty meatballs. Pretty sure you are going to like that kind of thing. Every person living under this roof of mine has deemed it the best crock pot soup of the year. I KNOW I like that sort of thing. The super bowl is on Sunday and it would make a great main course meal with little prep, fuss, fanfare, fireworks and exhaustion required. I’m definitely SURE you love that sort of thing. Who doesn’t!
Make the soup:)
Make it and kick back, and put your feet up while it simmers away all day. Then eat it and love it and thank the heavens for fabulous tasting food.
Let me show you how to make it happen…
1. Into a large crock pot, pour 3 cans Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce.
2. Add 4 C beef broth. (I just dissolved 4 teaspoons beef soup base granules into 4 cups hot water.)
3. Slice 1 1/2 cup carrots, chop yourself 1/2 a cup of onions, and about 1 cup of green beans. Add them to the crock pot.
4. Next you will need 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon thyme and 1 teaspoon oregano.
Once you have the seasonings measured out, crush them between your fingers as you add them to the pot. This really maximizes the flavor.
5. Drain and rinse 1 can kidney beans and 1 can garbanzo beans. Add them to the pot.
6. Now for the meatballs! These Italian Style Meatballs from Costco are absolutely fabulous.
Toss about 6 cups of these frozen treasures into your pot. Cover and let the old girl cook on low for 6-8 hours.
7. When your soup has simmered away all day and you are ready to eat, cook the pasta according to package directions. Don’t be tempted to add the uncooked pasta to the crock pot. The pasta will be kind of squishy and gross, and will also soak up a lot of the broth, leaving you with a thicker soup than you want. Just cook the pasta separately and all will be well. 🙂
8. Add 1 can of tomato soup into your crock pot. Give it a nice stir, cover the soup and let it heat through. Your soup should thicken just a bit with the addition of the tomato soup.
9. When you are ready to serve, dish a nice healthy portion of the pasta into each soup bowl then pour the Meatball Minestrone over the top. Garnish with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese.
6 C (about 1 1/2 pounds) Italian Meatballs, fully cooked
1 (16 ounce) box Ditalini Pasta, or Elbow Macaroni
1 (10 ounce) can tomato soup
Parmesan Cheese
Instructions
1. Into a large crock pot, pour 3 cans Italian Style Stewed Tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce.
2. Add 4 C beef broth. (I just dissolved 4 teaspoons beef soup base granules into 4 cups hot water.)
3. Slice 1 1/2 cup carrots, chop yourself 1/2 a cup of onions, and about 1 cup of green beans. Add them to the crock pot.
4. Next you will need 1 teaspoon basil, 1 teaspoon thyme and 1 teaspoon oregano. Once you have the seasonings measured out, crush them between your fingers as you add them to the pot. This really maximizes the flavor.
5. Drain and rinse 1 can kidney beans and 1 can garbanzo beans. Add them to the pot.
6. Now for the meatballs! These Italian Style Meatballs from Costco are absolutely fabulous.
Toss about 6 cups of these frozen treasures into your pot. Cover and let the old girl cook on low for 6-8 hours.
7. When your soup has simmered away all day and you are ready to eat, cook the pasta according to package directions. Don't be tempted to add the uncooked pasta to the crock pot. The pasta will be kind of squishy and gross, and will also soak up a lot of the broth, leaving you with a thicker soup than you want. Just cook the pasta separately and all will be well. 🙂
8. Add 1 can of tomato soup into your crock pot. Give it a nice stir, cover the soup and let it heat through. Your soup should thicken just a bit with the addition of the tomato soup.
9. When you are ready to serve, dish a nice healthy portion of the pasta into each soup bowl then pour the Meatball Minestrone over the top. Garnish with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese.
I always make a soup on Wednesdays, and this is what we will have this week. I think I'll take the anonymous suggestion and add the pasta to the crockpot. This sounds so delicious!
Katherine and Anonymous, It seems like a handy idea to add the pasta to the crock pot to cook…but please beware. The pasta will end up being kind of goopie in texture. It will also soak up most of the broth leaving you with a thicker soup than you want. This recipe will turn out best if you cook the pasta separate. Good luck! Hope you both love it! ~Jamie
Ok, so I'm throwing it all in the pot right now. Here is my question. Why does the recipe say to put 1 tsp of each oregano, thyme and basil, but then the instructions say to only do 1/2 tsp?
This sounds amazing
YUM!!
why not add the pasta to the crock pot and let it cook?
it will get soggy and thick, not firm, is really gross
I always make a soup on Wednesdays, and this is what we will have this week. I think I'll take the anonymous suggestion and add the pasta to the crockpot. This sounds so delicious!
Katherine and Anonymous,
It seems like a handy idea to add the pasta to the crock pot to cook…but please beware. The pasta will end up being kind of goopie in texture. It will also soak up most of the broth leaving you with a thicker soup than you want. This recipe will turn out best if you cook the pasta separate. Good luck! Hope you both love it!
~Jamie
Yay! It looks like I am a winner of Unbroken! I am so excited! I'm not sure how to go about getting it though. Let me know. Thanks!
~Jamie
Great idea about keepin the pasts separate. I hate how the pasts sucks up all the broth.
Ok, so I'm throwing it all in the pot right now. Here is my question. Why does the recipe say to put 1 tsp of each oregano, thyme and basil, but then the instructions say to only do 1/2 tsp?
Hi Stacey,
Thanks for catching my mistake! You need 1 teaspoon of each seasoning. Hope it turns out well for you, thanks again.
~Jamie
Awesome! Thanks! It already smells wonderful! The title also says Minestone soup. Not MinestRone.