Hearty Minestrone Soup in the Ninja Foodi

I have been craving some yummy Minestrone soup. This one hit the spot. It’s hearty, and will warm you up on a cold, chilly, dreary day.

I used the Ninja Foodi to slow cook this soup. But you can use any slow cooker, or even pressure cook it, if you’d like. Or go old school Dutch oven on the stove top and let it simmer away. Any method you use to cook the soup will still give you a delicious, belly filling, healthy, hearty bowl of soup.

Ingredients:

For the Ninja Foodi slow cooker:

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 small onions, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 to 4 carrots, peeled and chopped into coins
• 1 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes (the one I used had basil, garlic, and oregano seasonings)
• 1 32 ounce carton of vegetable broth
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of small red beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can of cut green beans, drained
• 1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 small zucchini, sliced in half, then cut into half moons
• Locatelli Romano cheese rind pieces, added in for flavor (can use Parmesan)
• Sea salt added, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

For the stovetop:

• 16 ounce box of elbow macaroni, boiled separately following box instructions (add 1.5 Tbsp. of salt to 3-4 quarts of water for flavorful pasta)

Toppings:

• Grated Locatelli Romano cheese, for topping
• Chopped flat parsley, for topping

Instructions:

Saute the olive oil, onions, celery, and carrots on high until the onion is fragrant and slightly soft.

Add the remaining ingredients (but do not add the cooked pasta yet!) and stir.

Switch function from Sauté to Slow cook on high for 4 hours. Place lid on pot, set valve to seal. (Be sure to hit the start button.)

When soup is done, add in elbow macaroni to each individual bowl served, so the macaroni does not get mushy in the soup and so it doesn’t absorb all the broth.

Top with parsley and Locatelli Romano cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

It would be great served with bread, rolls, garlic breadsticks, homemade biscuits, crackers, cheese toasts, grilled cheese, cheddar bay biscuits, cornbread, whatever you like! Or a side salad would also be a fresh and delicious accompaniment.

A dollop of pesto would be a delicious topping for this soup.

Enjoy!