Soup is very forgiving, and a wonderful way to use up any slightly wilted veggies or herbs, leftover meats from previous dinners, and grains that you may have cooked up earlier in the week such as pasta, rice or quinoa.
This recipe for Rainbow Soup, which I made earlier this week when my fridge and pantry were nearly empty, is a great template to work from, but feel free to swap out the veggies for whatever you have on hand, pasta for another grain, tomato sauce for tomato paste or another acid, and use whatever greens you happen to have. I ended up plucking spinach out of a container of spring mix, because the kale I was planning to use was just a bit too mushy and “fragrant” if ya know what I mean.
The beauty of this soup is that you don’t even need to have stock on hand – you can use water instead and let it simmer until the flavors combine to create a lovely, light broth.
Enjoy!
Equipment
- Large stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 medium carrots, chopped
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp tomato sauce or 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup cooked ham, cubed
- 1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- ½ cup chopped spinach or other green
- 3 cups water
- 1 pound gluten-free pasta (I used conchigliette), prepared per package instructions and drained
Instructions
- Prepare gluten-free pasta per package instructions, drain and set aside.
- Add olive oil to large stock pot and bring to medium heat.
- Add shallots and garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Add carrots, tomatoes, salt, pepper and fresh thyme, and cook, stirring frequently, until carrots are soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in tomato sauce, then white wine and cook until the wine evaporates, about 3 minutes.
- Add cubed ham, cannellini beans and spinach and stir to combine.
- Pour enough water into the pot to just cover the ingredients. Stir.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. You may need to add more water if too much evaporates.
- Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Spoon the soup into bowls, top with gluten-free pasta, and serve.
