Sunday, September 21, 2008

Minestrone

This is such a good recipe and so easy. I put italian sausage in it but if you prefer a veggie minestrone the sausage can certainly be left out. This makes a lot of soup so have friends over to enjoy it with you! Here is what you will need:

1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
4 carrots, pealed and sliced
3 medium potatoes, chooped
2 bay leaves
1 14 0z jar of marinara sauce
1 package italian sausages
1 box rainbow rotini
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste


In a slow cooker, combine first 6 ingredients. Fill the marinara jar with water twice and add to the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours.

One and a half hours into the cook time, remove the casing from the italian sausages and put into a frying pan. Cook the sausages over medium heat, using the a spatula to break the sausages into smaller pieces. Cook the sausages until browned, drain the grease, and place the sausages into the slow cooker. Cooking the sausages outside of the soup keeps a lot of the fat out of the soup.

Twenty minutes before the minestrone is done, cook the rotini according to the package directions. Add the cooked noodles to the soup. Salt and pepper the soup to taste. Place the shredded cheese on the soup after dishing into bowls.

This great served with bread sticks or sourdough bread.

1 comment:

Tiffi33 said...

I am so going to try this...