Minestrone Soup

kreat

I tried making the Minestrone soup in the Crock Pot over the weekend and it burnt and looked horrible. I followed the ingredients to the "T" and about 5 hours into cooking on Low, I went to check on it, and it had started to burn and was like a paste. No where in the ingredients does it say to add water. I wasn't home for the majority of the cooking time or I would have added some water. Just curious... How much water should I add in the soup when adding the ingredients at the beginning? By the way, the Ingredients / directions I got was from that www.Skinnytaste.com site.

MelissaU1985

I tried making the Minestrone soup in the Crock Pot over the weekend and it burnt and looked horrible. I followed the ingredients to the "T" and about 5 hours into cooking on Low, I went to check on it, and it had started to burn and was like a paste. No where in the ingredients does it say to add water. I wasn't home for the majority of the cooking time or I would have added some water. Just curious... How much water should I add in the soup when adding the ingredients at the beginning? By the way, the Ingredients / directions I got was from that www.Skinnytaste.com site.

I've not tried that recipe (looks yummy though!) Did you add the chicken broth? It does seem like that's a lot of 'dry' ingredients to not have water listed as an ingredient. I'd probably add a couple of extra cans of chicken broth instead of water, so that it doesn't lose any flavor.
Generally when I make a soup in the crock pot, I make sure that there's plenty of liquid to cover all of the ingredients, plus a little extra if it has pasta/noodles, since that will absorb the liquid.

kreat

It called for 3 cups of chicken stock. Thats what I put in. Maybe I should add 6 cups of chicken stock and maybe 2 cups of water?

MelissaU1985

It called for 3 cups of chicken stock. Thats what I put in. Maybe I should add 6 cups of chicken stock and maybe 2 cups of water?

That would probably work. If it's too thin, you can always drain some of the liquid after it's cooked.
Did you cook the pasta before adding it? Or was it dry pasta?

I see that the recipe calls for cooked pasta.. if you accidentally put it in dry, that would have a HUGE effect on how much liquid you need. I've totally made that mistake before with other recipes. Total fail. lol

LemonsAndCoffee

I wish I had some suggestions for you. I made this recipe last week and followed the directions exactly (I'm not creative when it comes to cooking) and it came out just right. The only thing I can think of is what the above poster said about the dry pasta. If you try it again, good luck! It is good soup!

kreat

You cook the pasta first, however, you don't add the cooked pasta until about 30 minutes before the soup is done.

kreat

How long did you cook it in the slow cooker?

LemonsAndCoffee

It cooked on low for probably closer to 7 hours (because I was at work). Did you puree the beans with a cup of broth? That adds to the liquid used.

kreat

Yeah I did.

LemonsAndCoffee

Hmmm....I'm not sure. I'd say give it another try.

Sweet_Potato

I find that crockpot recipes ALWAYS overestimate the cooking time so check on it frequently!

I personally love the minestrone recipe from Cook's Illustrated (so does everyone I've ever made it for). If you're willing to try a non-crockpot version I highly recommend it..