Easy Springtime Crockpot Minestrone.
I have a few bones to pick with the universe.
And by the universe, I mostly mean the weather. So totally cliche, right?
Wait. Oh wait. This is bad… I mean, really bad. That I’m talking about the weather again? I feel like a complete loser, but it might just be because the only real human interaction I’ve had over the last three days has been that weird middle-aged woman reading an audio book in multiple voices that are freaking me out and my mailman who was forced to bang on my door for like 14 straight minutes because I was blasting Paula Abdul’s Rush, Rush so loudly that I couldn’t hear a thing and he obviously knew someone was home. We’ve since developed a relationship of sorts.
Can either of those be considered human interaction? Please say yes. In other words, I perfected a zillion (literally, obviously) batches of whole wheat cinnamon rolls. Which would be amazing except for the whole having to eat a zillion batches of cinnamon rolls thing.
I think I’ll sleep on the treadmill tonight.
It’s just that right now it seems like we skipped right over Spring… went directly from winter to almost summer. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like to go lie outside and toast myself like a crouton… but I’m kind of only into that if there is water around. In other words, my perfect temperature is say, 63 degrees. Maybe even a little lower. Why did we have to skip that lovely temp? I dig all the seasons and appreciate them for the time when they should be here (for, like a few months), but can this crazy climate start taking it’s meds. Can’t we just be normal for a hot sec, where it’s not 21 degrees last week and 81 inside my house yesterday?
I’m also wondering why must I find a pretty, watercolor pillow I like online at Anthropologie that costs about $500. Right next to the lamp with ugly birds on it that is also ludicrously priced. I’m pretty sure I could paint something similar to both with my eyes closed, so yeah, I may work on that today.
And why must cheese have calories? The least the universe could do is make the good stuff (like fontina) magically have LESS calories without resembling the lovely texture of plastic.
Oh and the biggest thing I’m so annoyed with right now is that lots of cute crop top type things are apparently back in style, like Kelly Kapowski type crop tops and I am most definitely too old to wear that stuff. But when they WERE in style before, I was way too young. The real question is why does the universe hate me?
To deal with the insanity that the clouds above are tossing our way, last week I made some soup that screamed springtime when it decided to snow after the first of April. Those are not my kind of April showers, but whatever. I had recently bought three bunches of super thin asparagus (my fave) and was going to shove spring inside anything I could get my hands on.
This soup is embarrassingly easy. Throw half the junk in the crockpot, set it, come back and throw the other half in before you eat. I make a humongous (props to you, spellcheck, for recognizing such a fab word) batch, freeze half (which I never do, so you know it’s good) and keep the other half on hand for lunches or dinners. Or until I forget about it and have to throw it out three weeks later. I even did this whole makeshift pot pie thing one day too.
This is making me feel better about all the cheese.
Springtime Crockpot Minestrone
Ingredients
- 1 sweet onion, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 1 (28 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
- 2 (15 ounce) cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
- 3 cups water
- 8 ounces of uncooked ditalini pasta
- 12 thin asparagus spears, stems removed and cut into thirds
- 1 cup of frozen sweet peas
- 1 (6 ounce) bag of fresh spinach
- 1/3 cup freshly grated romano cheese + more for topping
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add diced onions, garlic, carrots, the whole can of diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, stock and water to your crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, stirring once or twice if you can.
- About 10-15 minutes before serving, add in asparagus (I like mine with some crunch, add it earlier if you want it softer), spinach, peas and pasta. Cook on low for another 10-15 minutes then stir in grated cheese. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired. I used about a 1/2 teaspoon of each, but it will depend on the sodium levels in your stock, tomatoes, etc. Serve immediately with additional cheese on top!
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
…and the cinnamon rolls.
227 Comments on “Easy Springtime Crockpot Minestrone.”
I am reminded of
I am reminded of springtime in Poland during the Great War…
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Thanks for this great recipe! I made it last night and it was a real hit. Delicious! Really looking forward to eating the leftovers tonight ;)
I sort of winged it a bit with the quantities and reduced the liquid (not so much water). I also added a bit of cayenne and a dash of herbes de provence.
Oh yeah, and I added the beans in at the end with the spinach etc. Because I’m convinced that being canned and pre-cooked they would have otherwise turned to mush.
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So I just made this for dinner. I put my pasta in with 15 mins left and they’re still too al dente. What did I do wrong?!
jen did you recover the crockpot? sometimes crockpots have different temps – just cover it and they should be finished in a few more minutes!
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Haha! Your crop top comment made me laugh out loud. I’m the same way, was too young before, and bordering on the edge of too old now with a little bit of a belly even if I was to be so bold. . . *sigh* Can’t wait to try this recipe!
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my crockpot cooks on low for 8-10 hours and on high for 4-6, so as the recipe says on low for 4-6 hours, which setting would be best on my crockpot?
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The pictures of your recipe look very delicious, it attracts me. I like it and can’t wait to taste it…Thanks for this healthy recipe. Perfect :-)
Question. On the Springtime Crockpot Minestrone recipe. Since I am only one in the household, could this be separated into one meal containers and frozen for later?
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Thank you for this recipe. I checked on the carrots at 6.5 hours, and they were perfect. I panicked for .5 seconds before deciding to just make the pasta like normal on the stovetop, with the asparagus, spinach and peas. Worked out perfectly. I’d rather have one extra dirty dish than mushy carrots. I also did about 12oz of pasta instead of 8oz, just because we’re carbo loaders.
Perfect combination of flavors. Everyone in our family is sick with a nasty cold, and this is just the soup we needed!! I’m feeling better already! Not sure if the soup is actually the reason for that, but I’ll give it the credit ;-) Thank you!!
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OMG, that springtime stew looks amazing!!! I am making that this week!
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I made this and it was SO GOOD. I’m not a fan of vegetable stock, I think it tends to be a bit bland. I used a good quality chicken stock instead and substituted one of the cans of beans for a can of chickpeas. I thought it was super good. Only change I would make next time is cooking the pasta separately because I think the texture of it cooked in the crockpot was too gummy. I loved the addition of the asparagus- it really makes this soup stand out.
I couldn’t wade through the babbling to get to the recipe. Don’t give this horrible verbiage the dignity of calling it a recipe.
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It LOOKS great, but turned out awful yesterday when I made it. I followed the directions to a “t,” but the soup was so gummy that I couldn’t finish more than a few bites. As I read the comments now (which I didn’t do before) I’m wondering if I should have cooked the pasta separately. Too late, though, as I now have an entire crock pot full of soup that nobody in my house is willing to touch! What a shame.
We tried this recipe yesterday. It was excellent! Very springy indeed!
We forgot to add the peas, but still delish and VERY FILLING! The only thing we added in addition to the recipe was Italian Seasoning. Hubby said it was missing something, and that was the “something”. Other than that…perfection!
Thanks for a new fresh take on a crock pot soup!
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Hi, was wondering how long this might take to cook for 2 people instead? Any difference in the timing there due to smaller batch? Thanks!!!
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What a beautiful soup. We ended up being out all night and not sitting down for dinner at home. I followed the last steps of the recipe and served a bowl to my husband who said it was his fave meal of the week. I only had a bite, but I subbed garbanzo beans for the cannelini and am thinking it wasn’t a good sub, but what I had on hand. I froze the rest of it this morning so hopefully it stays good for a future dinner!
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