Minestrone Soup and my new purple Le Crueset

So I got this beauty for Christmas and have been using it to make all kinds of soups and stews like this delicious Minestrone soup recipe - and I realized I haven't even given her a proper debut on my blog yet! (A purple Le Crueset would be female, right?)

Purple is my favorite color and when I decided I wanted one, I knew it had to be purple. Not easy since they only sell the purple ones in Europe but I was able to find this one on ebay (and just went ahead and ordered it making Christmas shopping easier for my mother : ).

I am really enjoying looking for new recipes to make with at, as well as making some old ones even more delicious (bolognese made in this thing is heavenly!). And it looks gorgeous sitting on my stove when I'm not using it.

This particular recipe actually called for it to be made in a slow cooker, but since I was working from home the day I made it I was able to watch it all day so used this instead.

I found this while looking for healthy soup recipes on Food Network and this one was very highly reviewed. I did add sausage which I realize makes it less healthy - but so flavorful. I enjoyed leftovers for a week!

Minestrone Soup

Adapted from foodnetwork.com, Robin Miller

Ingredients

• 3 cups reduced-sodium 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 pasta (I used shells)
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted
• 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• 1/4 lb italian sausage

Directions

In a slow cooker or dutch oven, 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 pasta and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Also at this time, brown sausage, drain fat from it and add to the soup.

Remove bay leaves and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle parmesan cheese over top.