Roasted Garlic Veggie Soup with Pasta
Garlic is not only delicious, it's also a great immunity booster-- especially important during colder weather. Roasting the garlic gives it a sweet almost nutty flavor. Stock full of veggies, seasonings and pasta, this soup is comfort food at its best!
Servings 6
Ingredients
- 2 whole garlic bulbs, separated and peeled
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 6 cups vegetable stock, low or no salt (see note below)
- 1/2 can Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
- 2 carrots (organic), chopped or thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, ground
- 4 cups shredded kale or escarole
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 cup cooked macaroni or small pasta (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Wrap garlic bulbs in foil, place in small casserole dish and roast 45 to 50 minutes until soft. Cool and squeeze garlic pulp into a bowl.
- Heat olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onions and peppers and saute for 5 minutes. Add stock, tomatoes, carrots, tomato paste and seasonings.
- Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove 1 cup of soup (along with veggies) and combine with garlic pulp in bowl. Using an immersion blender (see Note below), blend until combined. Return mixture to soup pot (will thicken the soup slightly).
- Add shredded escarole or kale, simmer for another 7 minutes (4 minutes for kale).
- Add peas and pasta into the soup. Heat through. Enjoy!
Notes
Veggie stock: I liked Kitchen Basics Vegetable Stock, no salt. It's richer and deeper in flavor than most stocks.
Pasta: A high-protein pasta, i.e. lentil, brown rice, chickpea or gluten-free high protein gives you a complete meal in one.
Immersion Blender: If you don't have an immersion blender, you can mash up the garlic and vigorously whisk the mashed garlic with the soup/veggies to create an emulsion.