Milano Minestrone

Here is another fantastic warm-n-cozy soup recipe from Momma Asay! Several years ago we went on a family vacation to Europe! One of our stops was in Italy. Ahhh, the food! Amazing gelato, baguettes, pasta, etc! While walking around Milan we found a quaint little restaurant called Papa Fransiscos! We all fell in love with the Minestrone soup! It was packed with fresh veggies, top quality pasta and had the most buttery and savory broth I have ever tasted! So of course upon arriving home, Mom went to work trying to mimic the soup we all fell in love with in Milan! And she did an amazing job! You will fall in love with this soup also! Enjoy!

In a saute pan, brown sausage, onion and garlic together

2 small tubes all natural mild sausage, browned

2 medium yellow onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

In a large stock pot combine:

10 medium carrots, chopped

10 celery stocks, chopped

2 cartons kitchen basics chicken stock

Add the browned sausage, onion and garlic to the stockpot also.

Bring to a slow boil, reduce heat and simmer until veggies are beginning to get tender. While soup is simmering, in another pot:

Bring 1 large bag elbow macaroni or any other fun pasta you have on hand to a boil! Drain when pasta is al dente. The best way I have found to gauge this is by looking at the cooking time on the pasta bag and reducing it by a minute. So if it says to boil pasta for 11 minutes, boil it for 10! Add strained pasta to the soup!

Add to soup:

2 cans cannollini beans, drained

2 large zuchinni, chopped

3 tablespoons italian seasoning

2 tablespoons dried parsley

3/4 cube of butter (optional, but adds amazing flavor!)

Let soup simmer for another five minutes and then serve!!!

Note: This recipe makes a large batch so half it for smaller families!

image by Kara