Minestrone Soup

I've been fascinated with Minestrone soup since watching a television show about the Centenarians of Sardinia. Read this great article here. In the oversimplified way that only people that know me understand, I can declare that the best way to live to be 100 years old is to drink wine, work hard outside, and eat minestrone soup.



Minestrone Soup (in a crock pot)

Ingredients

* 3 cups vegetable stock
* 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
* 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
* 1 celery stalk, chopped
* 1 cup onion, chopped
* 1 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
* 2 bay leaves
* Salt and ground black pepper
* 2 cups cooked ditalini pasta
* 1 medium zucchini, chopped
* 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
* 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add ditalini, zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.

Make sure two add two cups of cooked pasta. I cooked two cups of pasta first and added way too much. All of the broth subsequently disappeared. So if you want it to stay a soup, don't add any more than two cups of pasta.