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Today we have a Making It Count Tuesday (Now known as The RoL Pinterest Party & Link-up) and Meatless Meal Mash-Up!

I am linking up with Beth Anne’s Best and Tales from Astoria for Meatless Mondays.

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I originally got this Minestrone Soup recipe from my sis and pinned in on my Pinterest What’s Cooking board. I’ve made it a couple times before changing a few things to make it perfect for my family. The original recipe is on the thick side and we wanted a little more broth/liquid in our soup without diluting the flavor. Here is what I put in it.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 cups chopped celery
2 cups sliced carrots
4 cups chicken or veggie broth*
1 cup water
4 cups tomato sauce
1 mini bottle of red wine or 1 cup of red wine**
1 cup canned kidney beans, drained
2 handfuls of fresh green beans, cleaned, prepped and blanched***
4 zucchinis, quartered and sliced
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup small sized wheat pasta (ie. shells, rotini etc)
Grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

1. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots, sauté for 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, water and tomato sauce. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Add red wine. Reduce heat to low. Add kidney beans, green beans, zucchini, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, the longer the better.
3. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until tender. Drain water and set aside.
4. Place a serving spoon of pasta in a bowl. Ladle soup on top of pasta and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

* Obviously, for a Lenten meatless meal, I used veggie broth and it was still really good!

** We aren’t really wine drinkers so I hate opening a big bottle to cook with because we never finished it. Instead I bought a 4-pack of the mini wine bottles, such as the one below, which is a perfect for various recipes.

*** I always blanch my green beans for 7-8 minutes before adding it to the soup. I have never tried throwing them in raw so I don’t know if they’d be tender enough or still a little tough.

This soup is a huge hit with the family, especially when served with a slice of fresh baked bread or ½ a grilled cheese sandwich.

And, you may ask, is it kid friendly? I’ll let Matthew answer that question. 😉

I think those Popeye arms speak volumes. He likes his veggies and pasta!

His messy smile proves it.

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Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose a tutorial, recipe, or idea that has inspired you. Do it and blog a little about it. It doesn’t have to be elaborate — we just want to see what you’ve been up to!
2. In your post, rather than linking to your Pinterest pin, link back the original idea/blogger. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person. 🙂
3. Link back here so others can play along.
4. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. And please use your own original photo (not someone else’s!) as your thumbnail image. Copyright issues, you know. 😉

You have a week to post your link, so if you can’t get things done by Tuesday, no worries, put it up when you can. We’ll be here. Have fun!

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See other Lenten Meatless Meals here.