Now You Can Have Minestrone Soup In A Hurry

Minestrone is a popular choice at restaurants, but for dining at home, the savory soup’s mile-long ingredient lists and lengthy cooking time can be intimidating.

While it might seem that the classic vegetable soup requires long simmering to achieve its rich flavor, you can have mouthwatering minestrone in short order. You need only five basic elements: prepared vegetable broth, a sauteed onion to give the soup a flavorful base, canned beans and pasta to make it satisfying, and one or more fresh or frozen vegetables. Everything else is optional.

For the beans, choose canned white beans, garbanzo beans or frozen black-eyed peas. Select a rapid-cooking vegetable, such as spinach leaves, strips of Swiss chard or diced zucchini. You might like to add a can of diced tomatoes or a package of frozen peas, corn, green beans or mixed vegetables to make the soup colorful and more nutritious.

When the vegetables are nearly tender, add fine noodles or any small type of pasta to the soup. If you have cooked rice on hand, heat it in the microwave while the soup is cooking, and top each serving with about 1/2 cup hot rice instead of adding pasta.

Basil is the time-honored flavoring for minestrone, usually in the form of pesto stirred into the soup. Buying ready-made pesto is the fastest option. But if you prefer a lower-fat alternative, prepare Light Pesto from garlic, fresh basil, vegetable broth and just a touch of olive oil, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. For an aromatic, fat-free garnish, instead of pesto sprinkle each serving of the soup with thin strips of fresh basil.

Although we are most familiar with minestrone made solely of vegetables, meat is added in some regions of Italy. Heat 1 to 2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey in the soup for a meaty minestrone.

Minestrone Rapido

This tastes good without extra cheese, but if you like, serve grated Parmesan cheese on the side for sprinkling into the soup.

2 (14-1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth

1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, diced, optional

2 cups water

1 cup thin soup noodles

2 small zucchini, diced, optional

1/2 to 3/4 cup frozen peas

1 cup torn spinach leaves

1 (15-ounce) can white beans such as Great Northern, drained

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

Salt, freshly ground pepper

Light Pesto (recipe follows), purchased pesto or strips of fresh basil leaves

If preparing Light Pesto, reserve 3 tablespoons vegetable broth.

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onion and saute, stirring, 3 minutes over medium-high heat. Add carrot, remaining broth and 2 cups water to onion mixture. Cover and bring to boil. Cook over medium-low heat 7 minutes.

Add noodles and bring to boil. Add zucchini, peas, spinach, beans and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Cover and cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until vegetables and noodles are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in pesto or sprinkle each serving with basil strips.

Yield: 4 servings.

Light Pesto

2 large garlic cloves

1 tablespoon pine nuts or walnuts

1 cup basil leaves

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons reserved canned vegetable broth (from recipe above)

With blade of food processor turning, drop garlic cloves, 1 at a time, through feed tube and process until finely chopped. Add nuts, basil and cheese and process until basil is chopped.

With blade turning, add olive oil, then broth. Scrape down sides and process until mixture is well blended. Transfer to small bowl and set aside. (Pesto can be kept, covered, up to 1 day in refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before using.)

Yield: About 4 servings.