Recipe {Winter Vegetable Soup}

I know there are lots of recipes around for vegetable soup and I know lots of you make it already. I have even previously posted a recipe for it using my garden overflow. I am also aware that it is a very easy soup to make. BUT this last batch I made was so good. So good that even my husband who demands meat often ate it up and took it for lunch for days. So I figured I should post it. Plus, I took pictures of it with my IPhone. And you know a recipe is better with pictures. 

Here is the beginnings of the soup sauteing away.

Winter Vegetable Soup

1 medium onion, diced

5 cloves of garlic, diced

3 bell peppers, diced (I used a red, orange, and yellow one)

6 stalks of celery, diced

5 carrots, diced

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 head of cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 jar of your favorite tomato sauce (I use our homemade canned sauce)

2 cups of white beans

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

1 box of stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 rind of parmesan cheese (do you all do this? buy a chunk of parmesan cheese and then freeze the rind to throw in soups later. Seriously adds so much flavor and is a great way to not waste that expensive block of cheese)

1 Tablespoon italian seasoning

1 Tablespoon basil

Salt and pepper to taste

Grab a large dutch oven and add olive oil and butter. Bring it to medium heat. Add your diced onion and garlic and allow to soften. Once those are soft add in your chopped carrots, celery, and peppers. When they begin to soften add in your tomatoes. Let those simmer for 5 minutes or so then add in your cabbage. Once the cabbage is soft add in your seasonings, cheese, tomato sauce, beans, and stock. Let that simmer for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and your ready to eat. 

 Finished soup

We ended up freezing half the soup and still had plenty to eat. If you want to make it stretch even further add you favorite small pasta to it once it comes to a simmer, keep an eye on it because you may need to add more stock to it. 

Hope you all enjoy this as much as we did!