Minestrone Soup

I really wanted something tasty and hot, but not overly filling, and Minestrone came to mind.  I had an idea of what I wanted, but yes, I did take a look at Closet Kitchen, to see if he had anything of interest.  He did.  A minestrone with butternut squash.  I wanted to do that, but they were out of it at Whole Foods, so, modifications...  They had acorn squash, but I wasn't up for that and decided on potato.  I had lots of fresh herbs, and pretty much doubled all of them, and also browned the sage in butter.  Oh, he used sausage in his too, which I opted for on the side, since we have non-meat eaters in the house too - I love you Moira! :-)    I didn't do his cheesy toast this time, but did slice up a baguette and drizzled it with olive oil, salt and pepper, and broiled it.  I cut up the veggies smaller, like between 1/4 and 1/2 inch cubes.  It cooks faster and I wanted them that way.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Large yellow onion, chopped, diced
4 large cloves, minced
4 carrots, diced small
4 celery stalks, diced small
8 cups vegetable stock (Traders, low sodium, NOT the hearty)
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes (Traders)
6 white potatoes, diced small - I prefer not to peel them
2 19 ounce can cannelloni beads (rinsed and drained- Trader's again)
2 Tbsp rosemary (chopped up)
2 T Tbsp Thyme
12 sage leaves - brown in butter, salt and pepper
6 bay leaves - I get em in the park behind our house....nice...!
pepper flakes to taste - i didn't use enough, maybe a teaspoon would be better
grated parmesan or other hard cheese
salt and pepper to taste
parsely, chopped, garnish

1 Heat the oil.  Saute the onions, 3-5 minutes, add garlic, 1 min, add the celery, carrots 3-5 more minutes.
2 Add stock, tomatoes, potatoes, beans and all the herbs and simmer for 20 minutes.
3 Grate the cheese, sprinkle on top, add parsely on top.  Serve with the toasted baguette slices.
4 We also had that italian sausage from Traders.  I cooked it on the grill, but you could do it on the stove, or whathaveyou.  Chop it up into slices, and add to soup.

Away you go!  Delicious.

Jib Jab
- It was good.  I wonder if I added too many herbs.  It just gets better the next day.  I will try it with butternut some day.  The potatoes were my thing.  Normally minestrone is with noodles.  You can try that.  I really liked the potatoes though.  That's it!