by Pamela Morgan

We took the Italian classic comfort dish, removed the pasta, and amped up the flavor with the Instant Pot. Instead of letting the soup simmer for hours, it was done in a matter of minutes! If you don’t have cooking twine, you can purchase these easy-to-use Cooking Ties.

This is not your average vegetable soup.

If you want to make a soup without an Instant Pot, you can follow the instructions below, or use this handy guide from Serious Eats that will help you get through almost any variation on this veggie soup!

Mushroom Umami “Minestrone” Soup

Servies 4

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 small onions, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 small fennel bulb, diced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of parsley
• 3 inches of cooking twine or 1 cooking tie
• 4 oz. parmesan rind
• 6 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 container 13.4 oz canellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 5 plum tomatoes, diced
• 2 small zucchini, quartered and sliced
• 2 finely grated parmesan for garnish
• 2 julienned fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

Instant Pot Mushroom Minestrone

• Turn the Instant Pot on to saute and heat the olive oil, in the pot, without the lid. Add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and begin to turn translucent, add half of the mushrooms, oregano and red pepper to cook for another 3 minutes.
• Make a bouquet garni by tying the twine around your parsley, bay leaf, and rind(this will help you remove them at the end). Stir in the garni, stock, and beans. Cover the Instant Pot and set it to high pressure cook for 5 minutes.
• Release the steam and when the pressure is back to normal remove the lid and add the rest of the mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini. Let simmer in the warm pot for another 5-7 minutes (do not re-pressurize), stirring as needed, until the zucchini is tender.
• Before serving, be sure to remove and discard the rind, parsley, and bay leaf garni. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with grated cheese and basil, serve with croutons, bread, or crackers if you’re missing the starch.

Stovetop Mushroom Minestrone

• Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot, over medium-high heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and begin to turn translucent, add half of the mushrooms, oregano and red pepper to cook for another 3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and reduce down, until most of their moisture has evaporated.
• Make a bouquet garni by tying the twine around your parsley, bay leaf, and rind(this will help you remove them at the end). Stir in the garni, stock, and beans. Let simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Add the rest of the mushrooms and the zucchini and simmer for up to 2 1/2 hours. You could also follow what Serious Eats does and reserve half of the soup on the side, continue to simmer the other half in the pot for up to 2 1/2 hours, and stir reserved soup back in for a soup that is hearty, but still has plenty of bright vegetable flavor and texture.
• Before serving, be sure to remove and discard the rind, parsley, and bay leaf garni. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and top with grated cheese and basil, serve with croutons, bread, or crackers if you’re missing the starch.

The Pamela Morgan lifestyle brand reflects Pamela’s decades of experience in the hospitality world through delicious and engaging multimedia content. She share her tips, ideas, travel adventures, and experience in the food and lifestyle realm through her bi-weekly blog Flirting with Flavors, YouTube channel, and social media channels. Visit her website.