I have been using leftover pasta and meatballs and/or sausage to make Minestrone soup. I use about 4 cups of pasta with sauce, I use whatever meat I have leftover, cut in bite size pieces, 2 cans white beans with liquid, 6 carrots sliced or a bag of presliced carrots, 1 carton of chicken or beef stock, 2 cups of water, 1 bag frozen chopped kale or spinach (either works fine) and 1 medium diced onion sautéed in a little roasted garlic olive oil.
Saute onion in oil til translucent, add 2 cups of and simmer carrots until just soft, chop the spaghetti into bite size pieces, chop the meatballs and sausage into small pieces about 1/2”.
Some of the water will boil out when cooking the carrots, this is fine. Now, add all of the other ingredients and allow to simmer until hot.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano chees and crusty bread. This is a crowd pleaser.
Rebecca
This is what we are having tonight. Food is tight so I’m mixing up something I really don’t have to stress about. And this seems perfect, im just going to do a couple things different. I’ll post it later to share.
Jessica Fisher
Great! Glad you like it!
Jessica HK of Blog-Inspired Cooking
I made your Minute Minestrone soup and it was excellent, my husband and I both loved it. Thanks for the inspiration! I loved that it was a great way to use up a partial jar of spaghetti sauce, I always seem seem to put those in my fridge and then never figure out what to do with them, so they get moldy and gross and we need to throw it away.
Brilliant!! I have a little leftover spaghetti and some sauce leftover from Monday night. I think I’ll make some soup today. 🙂 I
Kristen
This was okay. It was a neat way to use up leftover spaghetti sauce (exactly what I was looking for). However, the broth was not flavourful enough. I chose the water + pasta sauce. Next time I’ll definitely choose the broth instead of water. The amounts of spices were not given so I under-estimated by mistake. I added 1/2 teaspoon of each (salt, pepper and paprika). I will add more salt next time. The broth will also help with that. My kids recommended that next time we use red or white kidney beans rather than chickpeas. I was okay with the chickpeas. Maybe 1/4 cup of Parmesan added?
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like a good start, Kristen. Minestrone often does have kidney beans, so if that’s what your kids like, definitely give it a go. I’m glad to see you making it your own!
Diane Cirelli
I have been using leftover pasta and meatballs and/or sausage to make Minestrone soup. I use about 4 cups of pasta with sauce, I use whatever meat I have leftover, cut in bite size pieces, 2 cans white beans with liquid, 6 carrots sliced or a bag of presliced carrots, 1 carton of chicken or beef stock, 2 cups of water, 1 bag frozen chopped kale or spinach (either works fine) and 1 medium diced onion sautéed in a little roasted garlic olive oil.
Saute onion in oil til translucent, add 2 cups of and simmer carrots until just soft, chop the spaghetti into bite size pieces, chop the meatballs and sausage into small pieces about 1/2”.
Some of the water will boil out when cooking the carrots, this is fine. Now, add all of the other ingredients and allow to simmer until hot.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano chees and crusty bread. This is a crowd pleaser.
Rebecca
This is what we are having tonight. Food is tight so I’m mixing up something I really don’t have to stress about. And this seems perfect, im just going to do a couple things different. I’ll post it later to share.
Jessica Fisher
Great! Glad you like it!
Jessica HK of Blog-Inspired Cooking
I made your Minute Minestrone soup and it was excellent, my husband and I both loved it. Thanks for the inspiration! I loved that it was a great way to use up a partial jar of spaghetti sauce, I always seem seem to put those in my fridge and then never figure out what to do with them, so they get moldy and gross and we need to throw it away.
I posted about my version of the soup on my blog
http://bloginspiredcooking.blogspot.com/2013/01/quick-minestrone-soup.html
Cheri A
Brilliant!! I have a little leftover spaghetti and some sauce leftover from Monday night. I think I’ll make some soup today. 🙂 I
Kristen
This was okay. It was a neat way to use up leftover spaghetti sauce (exactly what I was looking for). However, the broth was not flavourful enough. I chose the water + pasta sauce. Next time I’ll definitely choose the broth instead of water. The amounts of spices were not given so I under-estimated by mistake. I added 1/2 teaspoon of each (salt, pepper and paprika). I will add more salt next time. The broth will also help with that. My kids recommended that next time we use red or white kidney beans rather than chickpeas. I was okay with the chickpeas. Maybe 1/4 cup of Parmesan added?
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like a good start, Kristen. Minestrone often does have kidney beans, so if that’s what your kids like, definitely give it a go. I’m glad to see you making it your own!
Jada
Gonna have to try that one! My husband loves Minestrone.
I may not blog everyday of the challenge, but I did today!
http://jadaswanson.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/creamy-roasted-red-pepper-feta-sauce-w-farfalle-and-italian-sausage/