Minestrone

By Matt Fisher
Servings: Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 1 28 oz. can tomatoes, cut but undrained
• 1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 1-2 stalks celery, sliced
• 4 tsp. instant beef bouillon granules (or use beef broth instead of water)
• 1 tbsp. dried Italian seasonings (or basil and oregano)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1 tsp. bottled minced garlic
• 1 15 oz. cannellini or great northern beans
• 1 10 oz. package frozen lima beans or Italian-style green beans
• 4 oz. broken linguini or spaghetti
• 1 small zucchini, halved and sliced
• 2-3 tbsp. pesto
• grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a 5-6 quart Dutch oven (large soup pan or kettle), combine water, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, onion, cabbage, carrot, celery, bouillon granules, Italian seasonings, garlic and pepper. Bring to boil and reduce heat.

Cover and simmer for 10 min. Stir in drained and rinsed beans, lima beans, linguini and zucchini. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 15 min and then remove from heat. Serve in bowls; top each serving with pesto and Parmesan cheese, if desired.