This soup took about 25 minutes to prepare, it is not only quick, but easy to make too, and is another one of the Weight Watchers recipes adapted in our kitchen from the Simple and Classic Home Cooking cookbook, found on page 166 in the soups section.
As many of you know, in our kitchen we like to modify recipes to suite our own cooking style and preferences, so with this one we used dried pinto beans that we pre-cooked a few days before, and followed the rest of the recipe closely. We also increased the garlic amount by triple the original quantity. While the recipe calls for some frozen vegetables, they really are not that bad at all, in fact, it makes the soup go together quite quickly. Yet, if you prefer fresh vegetables, you could add sliced fresh zucchini, yellow squash, cauliflower, broccoli, Italian green beans, red peppers, carrots, baby lima beans in any combination that yields a pound. Therefore, if you are looking for a quick soup, this one will fit that need in less than thirty minutes. At only 143 calories per 1-cup (8-ounce) serving, when accompanied by a fresh salad this makes for a very light dinner.
| Ingredients | ||
| 2 | Tsp | Olive oil |
| 6 | Cloves | Garlic, minced |
| 6 | Cups | Chicken stock, heated |
| 1 | Lb. | Italian style vegetables, fresh or frozen (see note above) |
| 2 | Cups | Pinto beans, cooked, rinsed and drained |
| 2 | Cups | Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced |
| ¾ | Cup | Tubetti or other small tubular pasta |
| 2 | Tsp | Italian seasoning |
| 3 | Tbsp | Parmesan cheese, fresh grated |
| To taste | Salt and white pepper | |
| Procedure Steps | |
| 1. | Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium high heat and sauté the garlic for a minute or until lightly browned. Add the chicken stock, vegetables, beans, tomatoes, pasta, and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes or until pasta is tender. Season to taste with salt and white pepper |
| 2. | Ladle into individual serving bowls and sprinkle with the fresh grated parmesan cheese, about ½ a tablespoon in each bowl. |
| Yield: 10 1-cup servings | |
According to the Weight Watchers nutritional analysis, this recipe has a 2-point value per serving and 143 calories, 23.9g carbohydrates, 1.9g fat, 3.3g fiber, 6.2g protein, 1mg cholesterol, 509mg sodium (however, with fresh chicken stock this would be mush lower), 67mg calcium.
17 responses so far ↓
1 Phoenix56317 // Mar 10, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Ryan, this is awesome ! SOUP, is always a good healthy time saver to many of us. I should wait until I get a reply before saying more. Awesome Soup !
2 Cajun Chef Ryan // Mar 10, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Glad you like the recipe Walter, and thank you for the comment!
=:~)
3 Phoenix56317 // Mar 10, 2010 at 6:17 pm
Since your reply Ryan, I would like to add here the addition of meat, maybe chicken would add more value and substance to an already awesome soup. I have already made this and since I did not have any chicken on hand, I added some little smoked cocktail sausages to the soup. Well, I only got a cup’s worth between 3 other friends who we share cooking duties with. Am a Veteran in a VA funded home for disabled vet’s in case I did not mentioned that before. GREAT SOUP !
4 Cajun Chef Ryan // Mar 10, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Great idea, indeed, and in fact I would bet that some cooked bulk Italian sausage would be great in this soup too!
5 pegasuslegend // Mar 10, 2010 at 6:45 pm
this is perfect love eating this soup it diffinitely warms my soul just to look at it!
6 OC2Seattle // Mar 10, 2010 at 7:03 pm
You’re reminding me that I need to make some soup – so good for at office lunches. This one looks great!
7 sweetlife // Mar 10, 2010 at 7:52 pm
great soup–delish!!
sweetlife
8 Beth // Mar 10, 2010 at 10:26 pm
Great easy and quick soup. I like pasta in soup as well. Thumbs Up!!
9 Kathleen // Mar 10, 2010 at 11:48 pm
Oh yum! This soup looks delicious! All that pasta really works for me!
10 Sook @ My Fabulous Recipes // Mar 11, 2010 at 1:34 am
One of my favorites!
11 penny aka jeroxie // Mar 11, 2010 at 5:55 am
this is one of my favourite soup of all time! comfort soup that is delicious but so healthy 🙂
12 redkathy // Mar 11, 2010 at 9:07 am
Love the minestrone! Mom used to make it with beef bones back when the butcher gave them to you for free!
13 Trix // Mar 11, 2010 at 9:51 am
LOVE minestrone, and I love the whole low cal aspect, esp as you don’t sacrifice flavor one bit.
14 Jessie // Mar 11, 2010 at 2:51 pm
I love minestrone, it is such a healthy and hearty soup
15 Claudia // Mar 11, 2010 at 6:38 pm
I love this. I love adapting Weight Watchers recipes. I love soup. Yeah. It’s a keeper.
16 Chef Aimee // Mar 14, 2010 at 10:27 am
The best part about minestrone is the serving of vegetables you get in it for the day – this is perfect for lunch and so filling.
17 Richard // Mar 18, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Richard…
This is probably my favorite post on your site. nice….