White Trash Minestrone
Ugh the tomatoes. I spend all year chomping at the bit to seed and transplant and grow and eat heirloom tomatoes. One month after the fruit starts coming in, I’m sick of tomatoes. I am tomato’d out, man. But I grew such bitchin’ tomatoes this year, I can’t stop now. So here it is….quick and dirty. My white trash minestrone soup from my single mom days. I’m hoping I can use plenty of tomatoes for this. It’s a large quantity, so be prepared to serve it to guests or freeze it. I freeze mine in anticipation of colder days coming up. I can pop it frozen into a pot and reheat it in no time. I haven’t made it this way in ages. When I have an abundance of zucchini, I add that in, too.
White Trash Minestrone
Ingredients
- 1 gallon chicken broth
- 4 to 6 cups pureed fresh tomatoes
- 1 whole bulb of garlic peeled
- 1 box frozen chopped spinach
- 2 cups cut green beans fresh or frozen
- 1 can cannelini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups sliced carrots
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 1 medium sweet onion chopped
- 2 cups cooked ditalini
- Olive oil
- Handful chopped parsley and herbs of your choice basil, oregano, etc
- Kosher salt
- Fine ground pepper
- Grated Parmesan for garnish
Instructions
- Saute the carrots, onion, and celery together in about 2 tablespoons or more of olive oil in a large stock pot. Add the chicken broth and tomato mixture and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Boil for about 30 minutes.
Add in the spinach. You can drop it in frozen. Plop! Add in the herbs of your choice.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about an hour (I simmered mine for a couple of hours while I got some work done). Add in all the other ingredients.
In another smaller stock pot, heat salted water on high to a boil and cook the ditalini, drain, and add it to the soup at the last minute. Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with cheese if you like it.
