Easy minestrone soup

Do you take canned soups? Which is your favorite ?

Although minestrone is considered by some to be a fall/winter cold-weather soup, I can have it anytime. This is my favorite "non-Asian" soup, and definitely prefer this to cream of mushroom.
Since I did cream of mushroom before, I surely have to leave some space for minestrone.

The Second Annual Super Soup Challenge is here! Well...I missed the first one somehow :( For this second annual event, I just...have to...make my favorite! Nothing too creative - in fact it's so simple; and no fancy "footwork" - it's very easy.

This easy minestrone soup that can be cooked anytime with very basic ingredients such as celery, potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. In fact, this soup can be your "source" for using up leftovers (trust me!), for example, ONE potato left from cooking curry and TWO stalks of celery left from a chinese stir fry - some of us will say, this is an "odd" quantity to be left with (in hokkien, sometimes "idiomized" to say um sa um si, or otherwise Mandarin we say 不三不四, pronounced bu san bu si). It sounds TERRIBLE AND HORRIBLE if I directly translate them to English* AND, completely MAKES NO SENSE!

I know I'm leaving out the beans here (typically white, kidney or cannellini) but you can always add them as you want.

Easy Minestrone Soup (serve 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1tsp crushed garlic
-1-2 cups diced onion
-2small potatoes, diced
-1-2 handful baby carrots
-4-6stems from a bunch of celery
-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
-1/4lb shelled or cock-screw pasta (estimate: one palm-full)
-dried basil
-fresh ground pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth or more, adjust accordingly
-some water, adjust accordingly

Method:
1. Saute garlic and onion. Add potatoes, celery, carrots and stir a few minutes
2. Add broth and 2 cups of water, bring to boil then add tomatoes
3. Cook for about 10-15mins, add basil and let simmer until vegetables are almost ready
4. Bring to boil, add pepper and salt to taste. Add dried shell pasta, cook 8-10mins
5. Serve, with toasted bread

Now, I have two classic childhood canned soups of mine, being made at my home. It's really bye bye to canned soups.

Do you take canned soups? Which is your favorite ?

*In English, 不三不四(bu san bu si) - typically to describe "odd" - would have been "No three no four"?? Oh, did I just see HEX, DOLLAR SIGN, PERCENT and ASTERISK ?

Tag: soup, minestrone