Eggplant Minestrone

loof's Note:

This rich and delicious soup is chock full of veggies! The recipe is from an old, yellowed, well-worn newspaper clipping we found when cleaning out one of my mom's kitchen cabinets.

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 large onion
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 carrots
• 6 medium tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 medium zucchini
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 lb ground beef
• 4 cups beef stock
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup elbow macaroni
• ground black pepper , to taste
• parmesan cheese , to taste

Directions:

1. Peel and dice the onion, eggplant, carrots, and tomatoes. Peel and mince the garlic. Dice the zucchini and celery.
2. Heat the oil in a large soup kettle. Add the onions and garlic and saute until tender.
3. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add the eggplant and saute 3 minutes, stirring.
4. Add the carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, celery, stock, basil, oregano, and salt. Stir well. Simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours.
5. Add the macaroni and cook 15 minutes more. Add pepper to taste. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Reviews

[Boomette]

The taste is really good. But mine turned out like a stew. I followed the recipe except that I omitted the carrots and salt. I don't know what happened. I had the good amount of liquid. Maybe it was simmering too long. I really should have added more stock. If I do it again, I won't change the ingredients, just add more stock. The flavor is perfect. And so healthy. Thanks loof :) Made for PRMR tag game

[Leah's Kitchen]

I love this soup! It is just full of vegetables and yet has such a full flavor. I didn't have any beef stock to add so I just used water. It was a good soup for lunch and would go very well with ciabatta which I am planning to serve with it next time. I did forget to put the pasta in it and so when I heated up the leftovers the next day I added some cooked pasta. Either way it we enjoyed it. Thanks for posting this recipe! Made for Ramadan Tag 2010

[**Tinkerbell**]

Delish! Perfect for this chilly Autumn evening. I subbed shell pasta for the elbow & sadly, DH said the grocer was out of eggplant. Because he didn't realize it was the main ingredient, he didn't go to another store looking for it. We'll get it next time though! Made as a thank you for hosting the football pool - Fall 2009. :)