VEG MINESTRONE SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

Potato	1 small
Carrot	1 small
Green beans	8-10
Sweet corn	¼ cup
Onion	1 small
Tomato	3-4 medium
Spinach	1 cup
Ginger paste	1 tsp
Tomato paste	1 tsp
Tomato ketchup	1 tbsp
Kidney beans	½ cup dry
Pasta	½ cup
Salt	As per taste
Pepper	1 tsp
Italian seasoning	1 tbsp
Oil	1 tbsp

METHOD:

• Wash and soak the dry kidney beans overnight or 6-8 hours. Pressure cook the kidney beans for 3-4 whistles and keep aside.
• Cook the pasta as per the package instructions. Drain out the pasta from water before 1 min of the suggested cooking time and keep aside. Also reserve a cup of pasta water. Any pasta variety can be used, preferably small shapes.
• Peel and chop the potato and carrot into small cubes. Trim the ends of beans and cut into 1/2-inch long piece. Chop the onion finely. Puree the tomatoes into fine paste. Chop the spinach roughly.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a deep pan and add ginger paste. Saute for a min and then add chopped onion. Cook until translucent.
• Add chopped potatoes, carrot and saute for 1-2 mins. Add the pureed tomato and cook for 3-4 mins.
• Add the chopped beans, corn, salt and 1 cup of lukewarm water. Mix well and continue cooking until veggies are half done.
• Add the cooked kidney beans, tomato paste and ketchup. Mix well and bring the soup to a boil.
• Take out ¼ cup of half-cooked veggie and bean from the soup and blend into a smooth paste. Keep aside.
• Once the veggies are cooked, add the cooked pasta, veggie-bean paste and chopped spinach. Adjust the consistency of the soup by adding the reserve pasta water if needed.
• After the spinach wilts and soup comes to a nice boil, turn off the heat. Add the black pepper powder and crushed Italian seasoning.  Check for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
• Serve the soup hot with bread and enjoy!!!

Note:

1. Remove the pasta from the water before 1 min of the suggested cooking time because the pasta will be added to the soup later on and the pasta will get full cooked or else the pasta might turn mushy when cooked in soup.
2. Any seasonal vegetables like zucchini, squash or swiss/rainbow chard greens can be added to the soup.
3. The addition of tomato paste intensifies the tomato flavor. It can be omitted if you don’t prefer tomato flavor much.
4. The ketchup will balance the soup with slight sweetness. Or the ketchup can be replaced with ½ tsp sugar.