Cooking up some minestrone

What’s in my Crockpot today:

Minestrone Soup!

I am searching for the perfect minestrone but cannot find it. As this one cooks, I am somewhat satisfied, but am still scouting for the elusive, ultra tomato-y recipe. If you have a good minestrone recipe, please do share. I cannot remember where I had what I have in mind because it has been so long and I have tried oodles since. (At least that is my story; it is not that I am o-l-d.)

For this recipe, I backed off of the thyme and sage a little, added another can of broth and some spaghetti sauce. I know, probably not what the originator had in mind! Here’s today’s version (plus what I added):

Ingredients

• 3 cups reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can white (cannellini or navy) beans, drained
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked ditalini pasta
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• Basil sprigs, garnish, optional

Directions

In a slow cooker, combine broth, tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, sage, bay leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours or on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours.

Thirty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add ditalini, zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top. Garnish with basil, if desired.