The perfect soup for a cold winter day that is packed with veggies and flavor. The secret ingredient in this soup is parmesan rind. It creates a subtle warm flavor to the broth that will leave you coming back for more.
Ingredients
1 white onion, sliced
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 medium yellow squash, diced
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper, fresh group preferred
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth (1 quart)
4 cups vegetable broth (1quart)
Parmesan cheese rind, about 3-4 inches
2 cups macaroni or shell pasta
1 14.5 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed well and drained
1 14.5 ounce white beans, rinsed well and drained
2 cups baby kale, roughly chopped
Grated parmesan cheese for garnish
Directions
1. Dice all veggies and rinse beans. The key is to dice veggies relatively the same size so they cook evenly.
2. In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and celery and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
3. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
4. Add oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, salt, and pepper and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Stir in crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, vegetable broth, parmesan cheese rind and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes. This will meld the flavors.
6. Add macaroni and cook half the time of the package instructions, this will result in al dente noodles. Cooking longer, will leave the macaroni soft and overcooked.
7. Add beans and baby kale and cook until kale is wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Ladle into bowls and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Pro-Tips
If you’re meal prepping, cook macaroni separately according to package instructions and add into pasta when you eat the soup. This will keep the macaroni from getting too soft and keep that al dente texture.
Serve with croutons for an added crunch.
This is a perfect dish to get rid of your veggies, if you have other veggies add them in for an added vitamin boost.
The parmesan rind will provide a subtle parmesan flavor to the base of the broth. If you don’t have parmesan rind, add in grated parmesan instead for a similar flavor.