Recipe: Gluten Free & Vegan Minestrone Soup (Tomato Free Option!)

Hello, my name is Kristy and I should have been born in Italy - though, there could have been a problem with that.

You see, whilst I LOVEEEEEEEEEE Italian food (and the language and culture and I talk with my hands because I'm a teensy weensy bit of a drama queen) - I can't eat tomatoes.

And that's a bittttttttttttt of a problem in the world of Italian cuisine. 

Luckily, however, I'm not all talk(ing with my hands) and came up with a solution; my Nomato Sauce Recipe. I use it for spaghetti, on pizzas, in lasagna - and recently, I realised I could use it to make Minestrone Soup too!

Whilst I'd never eaten Minestrone Soup before, I always wanted to as it sounded like my kind of meal - loads of vegetables, pasta and warm and comforting. 

So I set myself a task - to create the ultimate Minestrone Soup Recipe that was the perfect tomato-free alternative - and it also had to pass the taste test of my very fussy husband. 

This recipe, my friends, is the successful result of that task. Meet one of our new favourite dinners - and one of our favourite meal prep recipes as it can be made in a huge batch to defrost, reheat and enjoy later!

So let me share the recipe with you! >> 

Easy Gluten Free & Vegan Minestrone Soup Recipe (without tomatoes!)

gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, clean eating friendly, meal prep recipe

1 onion, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, crushed 

2 tsp oil/butter

1 large zucchini, diced 

4 medium-sized carrots, diced 

4 ribs of celery, diced 

2 large potatoes, peeled and diced 

2 cups of canned crushed tomatoes or nomato sauce for a tomato-free version

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock 

1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or any type of bean) 

1 cup dry pasta (I used gluten free elbow shaped pasta)

Salt and pepper, to taste

• Place your onion, garlic and oil into a large saucepan and saute over a medium-high heat until your onion has softened. 
• Add all of your other ingredients (except the pasta and cannellini beans) to the pot, bringing the mixture to the boil over a high heat before turning the heat to low to simmer your soup for ~30-45 minutes. 
• Stir your soup occasionally, checking to ensure everything is mixed and taking your soup off the heat once all of your vegetables have softened. 
• When your soup has ~10 minutes of cooking time to go, add your beans and dry pasta.
• Season your soup to taste with salt and pepper or seasonings of your choice. 
• Enjoy as is, or if you prefer a thicker soup, add some of the soup to a blender (or blend with a stick blender) and pulse a few times to break up some of the ingredients. 
• This soup will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days or can be frozen in individual portions (we freeze ours in freezer and microwave safe containers) to defrost, reheat and enjoy later on. 

Thermomix/Cuisine Companion Instructions
I have a Tefal Cuisine Companion and usually use this as it's so much easier. Instead of chopping the onion, I put it whole in the Cuisine Companion for ~15 seconds on speed 12 and then add the garlic and oil and set it to the "Slow Cooker" program (P1 for 5 minutes) to saute with the lid off. After that's done, I add all of the other ingredients (except for the pasta and beans), change the temperature on slow cooker P2 to 100C and set it for 45 minutes. When there's 10 minutes left of cooking time, I add the pasta and beans. At the end, I pulse it for a few seconds to break up the ingredients and make a thicker, heartier texture.

Notes:

• The vegetable measurements in this aren't exact as I usually just throw in whatever we have in the fridge - mushrooms, peas, corn, whatever! Add whatever you like or have available. 

    

   

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