Angela DAgostino Custardo's Minestrone Soup

We start this week with a fabulous Minestrone soup recipe from an old high school friend of mine - Angela DAgostino Custardo.   

We both attended Trinity High School, an all girls school in River Forest, IL. 

I am so happy I can stay connected to Angela who now resides out East - as she cooks some phenomenal recipes!  I remember Angela fondly from our high school Italian class - as she was much more advanced in the Italian language than many of her classmates - that were still struggling at conjugating verbs lol.  (That would be me included) Angela is as beautiful now as she was in high school!

Here is Angela's delicious recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

Minestrone

1 medium onion

6 medium stocks of celery

1 large zucchini (I used 2)

3 medium carrots

2 cloves garlic

1 15ounce can white beans (I used cannellini)

2-4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tsk kosher salt

1 small piece of Parmesan rind

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes (best quality-I added some fresh cut up)

6 cups (approx.) vegetable broth

2 T basil (I use lightly dried called gourmet garden. Great intense flavor. Longer shelf life)

4 cups (or more) greens. (optional) I used escarole but spinach, baby kale fine.

And frozen Italian green beans. I try to find the flat Italian ones.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Prepare veggies Dice no larger than 1/2 inch and keeping them separate Onion (appx one cup) Celery (appx two cups) Zucchini (appx two cups) Carrots (appx one and 1/4 cup) Potatoes (appx two cups) Finely chop garlic Drain and rinse white beans. Discover Season and Stir! Your go-to for easy, healthy, and diabetic-friendly recipes. Elevate your meals with delicious, good food ideas!

2. Sauté the celery carrots and onions. Place oil over med high heat and add onions sauté till soft. Add carrots and celery till bright in color (3-5min)

3. Add the potatoes till slightly soft. Stir in zucchini and garlic. Cook for about 2 mins

4. Add seasoning (I add basil here, tomatoes and their juices, broth and the beans. Stir to combine and bring to boil. Simmer for 30-45min until carrots and potatoes are tender.

5. Remove rind. You can also add basil here as well. Add the greens (if you are using greens) and simmer till wilted.

6. Taste and season salt /pepper) as needed.

This soup looks so delicious - and would be a nice hardy meal to start your week.

Angela said the most important ingredient her mother added to any of her recipes was love! Everything was made from scratch with the best and freshest ingredients. It was simple, southern Italian comfort food. Although she came from a modest lifestyle, there was no sparing for expenses when it came for preparing meals for the family. Cooking for the family was one of the many ways she showed her love. She enjoyed cooking almost till the day she left this earth. Although her memory suffered greatly towards the end, somehow she was still able to remember how to cook! It came from the heart.

Visit us on Seasonandstir.com this week to see all the beautiful pots we have added - that would make cooking this soup recipe a delight!  Our olivewood ladle is a stunning addition to your kitchen - and a great soup ladle for serving!  We also have a perfect organic ditalini - that is so good with minestrone soup.   https://seasonandstir.com/products/season-and-stir%E2%84%A2-organic-ditalini?_pos=22&_sid=42d65786b&_ss=r