KITCHEN PARTY Contest Winners!

Third place winner Christina Magner, Halifax, NS

Christina spent 5 years in Ottawa with her husband, who is a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. While they were living there, Christina met a woman with whom she had a common bond; they both had celiac disease. Her friend shared this recipe for minestrone soup with Christina and much to her delight her family loved it as much as she did.

Now living in Halifax once again, Christina enjoys shopping the Seaport Market for the ingredients used in her soup and loves keeping it as local as possible.

A recipe note: gluten-free pasta will fall apart if it’s cooked for too long. Omit it from the recipe if you plan to freeze your soup, or make it one day and serve it another.

Minestrone Soup

Serves 4-6    

5          hot Italian sausages (casings removed)
1          tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil
1          cup (250 mL) onion, diced
1          clove garlic, minced
1          cup (250 mL) carrots, diced
1          tsp (5 mL) basil, crumbled
2          small zucchini, diced
1          can (28 oz/798 mL) diced tomatoes, undrained
4          cups (1 L) gluten-free beef stock
2          cups (500 mL) shredded cabbage
6          cups (1.5 L) water
1          18 oz/540ml can white beans, undrained 
1          tsp (5 mL) pepper
Salt to taste
1/4      cup (50 mL) brown rice
pasta shells or gluten-free pasta of choice

Brown sausage meat in oil in a deep Dutch oven or saucepan.

Add onion, garlic, carrots and basil. Cook for 5 minutes. Add zucchini, tomatoes with their juice, beef stock, cabbage and water. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 1 hour.

Add beans with their liquid and cook another 20 minutes. Add pepper and salt to taste. Add pasta (if you are using it) 15 minutes prior to serving.