Crockpot Minestrone Soup and Oat Cornbread

Don’t you love it when certain foods taste good together like hearty minestrone soup and oat cornbread?  The minestrone soup is made with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce that you can get at your local grocer, like Walmart or make your own.

The only reason I’d buy the pesto instead of making it is that it is made with 1/4 cup of pine nuts. Have you seen how much pine nuts are? For a 3.5 oz of pine nuts you can almost buy 2 6.7oz jars of pesto. (At Walmart) It’s up to you, below is the recipe. Makes 1 cup. Total Time: 5 minutes

The soup cooks in the crockpot for 4 + hours and serves 6-8

The Oat Cornbread recipe is from 1990 by the Quaker Oat Company. You can either bake it in the oven for 20-25 minutes or microwave it for 6 minutes. Makes 9  servings

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto
Ingredients:

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 pinch red pepper flakes
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

Blend all the ingredients in the food processor except the olive oil. Start the food processor and drizzle in the olive oil slowly while still mixing. Stop and scrape sides; taste test and adjust seasonings, if needed. Store leftover pesto in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Yum Yum!

Crockpot Minestrone Soup
Ingredients:

2 14.5oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1 Parmesan rind
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 cup carrots, diced
1 1/4 cup celery, diced
1 1/2 cup white onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 15oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15oz can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups zucchini, diced
1 1/2 cups tubular pasta
1 cup frozen green beans, thawed
2 1/2 cups baby spinach, chopped
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese to garnish

Directions:

Add the first 14 ingredients to your crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Add in the beans, zucchini and pasta and cook an additional 25 minutes or until the pasta is tender Stir in the spinach and green beans and cook for another 5 minutes or until heated through. Serve warm with Parmesan cheese and Oat Cornbread. Yum Yum!

Oat Cornbread
Ingredients:

1 cup Quick or Old Fashioned oats
1 cup corn meal
1/2 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup frozen kernel corn, thawed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

Oven Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F. Lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan. Combine dry ingredients. In another bowl combine the remaining ingredients then pour into the dry ingredients, mix well. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until edges are slightly browned. Serve warm.

Microwave Directions:

Prepare batter as directed above. Spread evenly in a 8” microwaveable dish. Microwave on medium (50% power) for 6 minutes, turn dish every 3 minutes or until center is set. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yum Yum!