Thursday, January 02, 2020

Desperate Minestrone Soup in Instant Pot

(From Banu's Cookbook)

This recipe is exactly what the title says. Desperate Recipe when I have not done grocery shopping and I am scavenging my refrigerator and pantry. Two Fresh Ingredients that I am missing for this recipe are Spinach and Zucchini. These two add really good flavors to the soup.

Ingredients:

1 or 2 small Onions chopped fine
1 Carrot Diced
1 15 oz can of Red Kidney Beans
1 15 oz can of Great Northern Beans
1 15 oz can of cut green Italian beans
1 15 oz can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes
2 tsp of Italian seasoning
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp of Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp of Oregano
1 tsp of Crushed Black Pepper
A bit of Pink Himalayan taste (just a little bit for flavor)
Frozen Spinach
4-5 cups of Vegetable Broth
1 cup of Shell Pasta (or any small pasta suitable for soup)
1-2 tsp of Olive Oil

Method:

1. Switch on instant pot and put it on Saute Mode. Once it shows On, add the olive oil. To this add the chopped onion and diced carrots. Saute well for 5-6 mins until the onion turns translucent.
2. Now add the seasonings and saute a bit more.
3. Add the drained and rinsed beans, Italian beans, fire roasted tomatoes, frozen spinach, pasta and the broth. Mix it well.
4. Switch off the saute mode. Put it in Manual/Pressure cook mode and cooking time is 5 mins.
5. After the cooking time is done. Do a quick release of pressure otherwise the pasta might get overcooked.
6. Mix it well and serve it hot with some grated Parmesan cheese and crushed black pepper.


 Notes:

1. I had Trader Joes Organic Vegetable Broth - 32 Fl Oz or 1 Qt - which was around 4 Cups.
2. My Frozen Spinach was from Indian store and it was in kind of cubes, so I put two cube of it.
3. I had Great Northern Beans but Cannellini beans also works very well.
4. Please have some PATIENCE as it takes time to build up pressure and release pressure as well as there is a lot of liquid in the instant pot. I did it in my 8 qt IP and it took around 3 mins to completely release the pressure.