Minestrone Soup with Cheese Balls

We absolutely love soups, both S and I.. I guess its something which has been a staple in both our household .. Amma would make different soups.. nothing fancy, but simple ones like tomato carrot soup, green soup with all veggies, doodhi soup, pumpkin one & so does my MIL... I make soups often at home and in fact i weekends are Soup times for us..

Today for the third day of BM#14, i choose this particular soup, for a couple of reasons..to incorporate some veggies in kids diet and make it so tasty..that they don't mind veggies any more :)..Ya, this trick worked on me, coz i hated almost all veggies, best way to get me to eat them was to make me drink them as soups :)..Kids do love macroni & cheese right??  I have included them both in this Minestrone Soup.. the cheesy twist in the form of healthy cheese balls ( something i learnt from Neetamehta )


Ingredients
1. Onions -1/4 cup
2. Garlic - 1 pod
3. Carrot - 1/4 cup
4. Beans -  1-2 tbsp
5. Macroni - 1/4 cup
6. Potato - 1/4 cup
7. Tomato - 2 medium
8. Seasoning Cube - 1 / Vegetable broth (2 1/2 cup)
9. Water - 2 1/2 cup  ( My 1 cup is 236 ml)
10. Butter - 1 small slice 
11. Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
12. Salt - to taste
13.Olive Oil - 2tsp


Cheese Balls
1. Paneer - 1/4 cup
2. Bread crumbs - 2 tbsp
3. Italian Seasoning/Oregano - 1 tsp
4. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
5. Cilantro - 1tbsp


Preparation Time!!


1. In a small pan, add 2 cups of water and add macroni and let it boil. In another one, mark X shape(easy to peel them) on tomatoes and put them in hot water to blanch them

2. In another pan, add olive oil, then add finely chopped onions & garlic and sauté till brown

3. To this add finely chopped carrot, beans & potato.. Saute for 2 minutes, then drain water of macroni & add it to this mixture. Mix well & add finely chopped blanched tomatoes to this.Cook for 2 minutes

(The macroni doesn't have to be cooked completely, it would be cooked when we boil the mixture.I always feel that a little boiling prior, as you chop veggies & get set enhances flavors..)

4. After cooking the mixture for 2 minutes, add 2 1/2 cup water and add 1 seasoning cube ( you get Maggi cubes) and mash it and bring mixture to boil. Once a boil comes, reduce flame & let it simmer for 15 minutes covered

(Can you see how the soup thickens after the addition of seasoning cube)

5. As the soup is getting cooked, make the cheese balls.. 

6. Take grated panner in a bowl, to this add powdered bread crumbs, italian seasoning ,pepper powder, cilantro 

7. Mash well & make small balls and refrigerate till you serve the soup

8. On the other hand, soup must be done, taste for salt, add pepper powder and a small slice of butter ( slice is say equivalent to 1 tsp). Remove off flame and serve hot with cheese balls

Pointers

* If you add seasoning cube, be careful while adding salt..taste & then add as per your taste. The cubes have salt!

** You could use broth instead of the cube.. 

*** Cheese balls are optional..But if you love cheese & want something interesting..This is something you will love :)

Serving : 2 ( I have halved the recipe & given here.. I made them for 4 servings)

Duration : 30 minutes

Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see what the fellow Marathoners are doing this BM#14

Sending this to Valli's Kids Delight hosted by Rujutha, Kalyani's Holi Fest, Gayatri's Walk through Memory lane hosted by Roshan and Resh's Say Cheese