Minestrone soup

Minestone is one of my favourite soups. It is a very thick and filling soup with lots of vegetables and pasta.... Thought I will give it a try this week, it came out very well and appreciated by everyone in my family. This is my entry to RP's JFI Event 'Tomato'. Soup was the one which came to my mind on thinking of tomatoes and I used a lot of tomatoes in this soup.

Ingredients

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Garlic- 3 cloves chopped finely

Red onion- 1 chopped finely

Tomato-2 cups chopped finely

Tomato paste- 1 tbsp

carrot/Zuchini- 1/4 cup chopped finely

cabbage- 1/4 cup chopped finely

potato- 1/4 cup chopped finely

celery- less than 1/4 cup chopped finely

Kidney/Garbanzo or any beans- 1/4 cup cooked

Any pasta of ur choice- 1/4 cup

Vegetable broth- 1 can

Parmesan cheese- for topping

pepper powder- little

Dried basil- 1/2 tsp

bay leaves- 2 (optional)

Method

Heat olive oil in a pan and add garlic and onions. Saute and add tomatoes and all the vegetables. Fry for some time and add the tomato paste and the vegetable broth. Bring to boil and then add the bay leaves, pasta and the beans.( u can cook the pasta seperately and add too) cover and cook till the vegetables and pasta are cooked .Add pepper powder, dried basil and salt to taste. simmer for 3 - 5 minutes . Sprinkle grated cheese on top and serve hot.