Six-vegetable minestrone

3
Points®
Total Time
1 hr 55 min
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 hr 35 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
Loaded with veggies, beans, and pasta, and topped with grated Parmesan cheese, this soup is a meal in itself.

Ingredients

Canned cannellini beans

6 oz, picked over, rinsed, and drained

Reduced sodium chicken broth

8 cup(s)

Table salt

¼ tsp

Black pepper

tsp, freshly ground, or to taste

Olive oil

4 tsp

Onion

2 medium, chopped

Carrots

2 medium, chopped

Celery

2 rib(s), medium, chopped

Garlic

1 clove(s), minced

Plum tomato

28 oz, canned, drained and chopped (reserve 1 cup juice)

Cabbage (all varieties)

1 pound(s), cleaned and shredded

Uncooked zucchini

3 medium, chopped

Fresh parsley

½ cup(s), falt-leaf, chopped

Dried sage

2 tsp, dried, or 2 tablespoons fresh

Uncooked pasta

3 oz, tubetti or other small pasta

Grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup(s), fresh

Instructions

  1. Place the beans in a large saucepan or Dutch oven; add enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; cover and let soak until the beans have swelled to at least twice their size, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Drain.
  2. Place the saucepan over medium heat; add the broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer; reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the beans are barely tender, about 1 hour.
  3. Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet. Swirl in the oil, then add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until wilted.
  4. Stir the vegetable mixture into the bean mixture; add the tomatoes and their reserved juice, the cabbage, zucchini, parsley, and sage. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in the tubetti; continue cooking until they are barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the cheese. Yields 1 1/2 cups per serving.

Notes

Vegetable soups have played an important role in the Weight Watchers Program right from the start: The first cookbook featured more than a dozen, and Garden Vegetable Soup continues to be one of the most requested and beloved Program recipes. Indeed, there’s no better way to get your veggies than in a tasty, filling bowlful. To honor that tradition, we’ve created the ultimate vegetable soup in this Italian improvisation—whose name means, in one translation, “vegetable soup,” and in another, “large bowl of soup.”