Minestrone Soup

This recipe was originally posted on my Thoughtful Eats column on the Woburn Patch.


Ingredients
1 small onion chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks (including leaves) chopped
extra light olive oil
2 14 oz cans (or 1 28 oz can) of Low Sodium Diced Tomatoes with Juice
3 cups of chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 8 oz can of small white navy beans, rinsed
2 whole bay leaves
½ tsp of dried thyme
½ tsp of dried sage
1 cup of ditalini pasta
1 small zucchini shredded
½ cup of thawed frozen spinach (optional)
whole wheat rolls

Heat up a couple drizzles of extra light olive oil. Once the oil starts to sizzle, add the mirepoix, which is the chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cook for a few minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Add the diced tomatoes with juice, chicken/vegetable broth, navy beans, bay leaves, thyme and sage. Bring the pot to a boil. Lower temperature to medium and add one cup of uncooked ditalini pasta. Cook for about 8 minutes until pasta is al dente then add the zucchini and spinach to heat it up.
Serve hot with some freshly baked whole wheat rolls on the side and let the warm fuzzies take over.