Intro: Geri is posting today! We LOVE Geri– we all lived near each other in SoCal and became fast friends. She is an amazing photographer & has an amazing Minestrone soup recipe we have been dying to get our hands on. Well folks. Today is your lucky day- her soup recipe is now open to the PUBLIC. It’s THAT good it definitely needs its own PSA. Geri’s Instagram HERE
ALSO: This New Staub Cast Iron 7 qt Round Cocotte is my new very favorite item in the kitchen. It’s gorgeous, its heavy, and it is AMAZING.
GERI’s MINESTRONE
Do you feel that? That extra little something in the air? Crispy weather is upon us and it feels goooooood. Gorgeous sun–shiney all year–round places, go ahead and turn on the AC, throw on some wool socks, close your eyes, and pretend. We’ve all earned it.
It’s November, which means a very important day is coming swiftly upon us: November 25th. The coming together of family and friends and beautiful memories and love and copious amounts of delicious food, and talking talking talking, and decorative scarves… our favorite girls are coming back to us! Those ever delightful and chatty Gilmores! There will also be a pre–revival warm up the day before, nation–wide, in the form of a gratitude/turkey/pumpkin themed feast.
Soup Season
While we’re waiting for our big day and it’s getting chillier and we’re getting the shakes from anticipation, and caffeine, we have a little something else to keep us and our taste buds preoccupied. Soup season!
Soup is a many a splendid thing, soup! Soup is cozy magic. Soup is the food version of that golden moment as the sun gives up its will to keep its eyes open and finally drops off to dreamland. Soup is soul–warming and heart¬–heartening. Soup is a sigh of relief after a long day. Soup is best consumed with house full of people, gathered round each other.
Soup. Cozy friggin magic.
Magic-est of all the soups? Nope. Can’t do it. Can’t pick just one best one.
But I can talk about all the favorites… among the top of that list is, of course, that vegetabley Italian goddess of all soupages: Minestrone
You in? Alrighty then. Here we go!
Minestrone Soup
Word to the wiz–kids:
1. dried herbs are about 3x more potent than fresh. If using dry parsley go with 2 tsp instead of 2 Tbs—since 3 tsp equals 1 Tbs (my sister put in 2 Tbs of dried parsley and that made for some potent parsley vegetable soup!)
2. don’t accidentally throw in 3x the salt, then rectify the situation with 3x the noodles w/o adding additional liquid (that made for some thick oodley noodley leftovers—nope nope nope)
3. vegetable broth does not equal chicken broth, nor vice–versa (ever. no never.)
4. if you gage the quality of your recipe by how things fair as leftovers, here’s the cream of the crop (not sure I’m a huge fan of cream and crop together in a saying now that I think of it… ew). this recipe makes an over abundance of blessed deliciousness—freeze some of that baby for up to 6 months! (my friend froze hers in mason jars and pulled them out for lunches and it continued to be delish and it made all the other teachers in the teacher’s lounge super jelly… I’m assuming the last bit of that story because I aint no dummy, but the first two bits were fully factual)
Pat yourself on the back with that wooden spoon of yours. You’ve successfully channeled your inner Sooki St. James. You’ve made some top–notch Minestrone soup. Eating twenty-nine million servings of vegetables never tasted so amazing.
Life’s short. Talk fast.
♥︎ g
^ a classic GG’s gif, if you’re feeling all sorts of light hearted and snarky and adventurous ;)’
Cozy Italian vegetable goodness for soup season.
- 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 1 c minced white onion about 1 sm onion
- 1/2 c chopped zucchini
- 1/2 c frozen Italian cut green beans
- 1/4 c celery minced (about 1/2 stalk)
- 4 tsp minced garlic about 4 cloves
- 4 c vegetable broth
- 2 15 oz cans red kidney beans, drained
- 2 15oz cans small white beans, drained
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 c carrots shredded
- 2 Tbs fresh parsley minced
- 1 1/2 tsp oregano – dried
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper – ground black
- 1/2 tsp basil – dried
- 1/4 tsp thyme – dried
- 3 c hot water
- 4 c fresh baby spinach
- 1 c small shell pasta
- Heat olive oil over med heat in large soup pot
- Sauté onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in oil for 5 min or until onion begins to turn translucent
- Add vegetable broth to pot
- Add drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices
- Bring soup to boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer 20 min
- Add spinach leaves and pasta—simmer 20 min (or until tender and done)
- *please, pretty please, top with croutons
Word to the wiz–kids:
1. dried herbs are about 3x more potent than fresh. If using dry parsley go with 2 tsp instead of 2 Tbs—since 3 tsp equals 1 Tbs (my sister put in 2 Tbs of dried parsley and that made for some potent parsley vegetable soup!)
2. don’t accidentally throw in 3x the salt, then rectify the situation with 3x the noodles w/o adding additional liquid (that made for some thick oodley noodley leftovers—nope nope nope)
3. vegetable broth does not equal chicken broth, nor vice–versa (ever. no never.)
4. if you gage the quality of your recipe by how things fair as leftovers, here’s the cream of the crop (not sure I’m a huge fan of cream and crop together in a saying now that I think of it… ew). this recipe makes an over abundance of blessed deliciousness—freeze some of that baby for up to 6 months! (my friend froze hers in mason jars and pulled them out for lunches and it continued to be delish and it made all the other teachers in the teacher’s lounge super jelly… I’m assuming the last bit of that story because I aint no dummy, but the first two bits were fully factual)
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Geri, You are a doll and I loved reading every last bit of this post! Your humor is amazing and I know this minestrone just as amazing as you! Thanks for sharing!!