This minestrone soup looks plain. I didn’t even bother to put pasta in here because potatoes deserve more spotlight. I’m really selling this soup to you, aren’t I? But give this soup a little taste, and you’ll see why it is one of the top 5 soups that has come out of my little kitchen. The secret is in the broth. It’s vegetable broth that’s been slowly simmering with chickpeas and bay leaves for 8 hours. Mmm, flavor. You darn tootin’ it’s delicious. Remember that I told you last week to save the leftover broth from your slow cooker chickpeas? I know you listened to me and bottled that up. You wouldn’t disappoint. And if you just poured it all away…we can still be friends. Just don’t do it again. It’s really the broth that gives the minestrone a distinct rich flavor. The other secret that makes this minestrone special is fish sauce. First I leave out the pasta, and now, fish sauce in a minestrone? Look, I never said that I was going to dish out an authentic minestrone soup today. I added fish sauce to the fun because I craved umami flavor. Friends, I haven’t been able to stop myself from eating this. It’s fueled me up for several lunches and dinners, and I just made another batch yesterday. It’s THAT good. Do yourself a favor. Make this, snuggle up, and enjoy. You won’t regret it. For those of you who made that batch of slow cooker chickpeas, here’s a couple more notes for you:
First, yay! I’m glad you gave it a go.Second, try to finish the refrigerated chickpeas in 4 days. Otherwise, freeze them. I used frozen chickpeas the second time I made the soup, and it worked out fine.
