Kids Cuisine

The Crock-Pot isn’t perfect for everything, but it does excel at many things, and soup is definitely one of them. I make a big batch of soup at least once a week – we eat one and freeze the rest, rotating through the frozen soups on Soup and Sandwich night (in our house, typically Mondays), when the kids are going in separate directions to dance and music lessons and dinner is late.

Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup, and everyone’s Italian grandmother has her own recipe, so there’s no hard and fast rule about what goes in. Generally speaking, most minestrone recipes include some kind of beans and some kind of pasta, along with a variety of vegetables, in a tomato-ey broth. Feel free to adapt the recipe according to whatever veggies your kids like and you happen to have on hand. This freezes beautifully, but don’t add the pasta until right before serving.

Minestrone for the Slow Cooker

• 3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 16-ounce can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 16-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 2 liters beef broth (or 8 cups water and 6 beef bouillon cubes)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 10-ounce package frozen cut-leaf spinach, thawed
• 1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey, browned
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 cups cooked medium shell pasta
• Chopped fresh parsley and grated Parmesan cheese to garnish

Spray the inside of a large (5- or 6-quart) slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place carrots, celery, garlic, onion, beans, and zucchini in slow cooker. Add tomatoes and pour broth over. Sprinkle with oregano, stir to combine, and cover. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in spinach and browned ground beef or turkey during last two hours of cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, divide pasta among serving bowls and ladle hot soup over. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired. Crusty Italian bread is a natural match with this, or try your hand at homemade focaccia.

Makes about 12 to 14 servings