Lasagna Minestrone Soup with Lentils and Kale

3.50 from 8 votes

Lasagna Minestrone Soup with Lentils and Kale

Hearty "big" soup, with noodles, beans, and greens--a recipe you can adapt to whatever you have on hand, another pasta, or beans, or leafy greens. Makes about 10 servings.

Prep Time15

Cook Time26

Total Time41

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: lasagna, minestrone

Servings: servings

Calories: 180kcal

Author: Letty | @lettyskitchen

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
3 cloves garlic minced
3 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup French green lentils, sorted and rinsed
8 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 bunch kale, stems removed and discarded, leaves coarsely chopped
6 whole wheat lasagna noodles broken in large pieces (see note)
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt plus more, to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions

For the Instant Pot pressure cooker: (For pressure cooking with a stovetop pressure cooker, see notes below.)

Heat the oil with the Instant Pot pressure cooker set on Sauté. Stir in the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is golden and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, chopped kale, noodles, lentils, and salt and pepper.
Lock the lid in place, making sure the steam vent is closed. Switch to Manual and set the timer for 4 minutes, high pressure. Switch to off and wait 4 minutes. Carefully turn the pressure valve to quickly release steam. When the valve drops, open the lid. Remove the bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, serve with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

For the stovetop:

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium flame. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until the onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth, bay leaves, chopped kale, noodles, lentils, and salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the lentils are tender but firm, about 20 minutes. (Since there is no lid locked in place, add the noodles after 10 minutes and cook the soup until the noodles are just tender to the tongue, about 10 more minutes.)
Remove the bay leaves.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. If desired, serve with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Six lasagana noodles weigh 5 or 6 ounces, so, if you are substituting a different pasta, use 5 to 6 ounces dry pasta.

To make this soup in a regular pressure cooker:

Follow the same basic instructions: Sauté the aromatics first and then add the remaining ingredients. Lock the lid in place and bring the cooker to pressure on high heat. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and reduce the pressure immediately.

Nutrition