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Finally! It’s about time this blog offered a traditional minestrone soup recipe. Minestrone is a hearty Italian vegetable soup made with tomato-y broth and pasta or rice. I’ve been working hard on this recipe and I’m so excited to share it with you. Minestrone was traditionally made to use up leftover vegetables, so feel free to use any seasonal vegetables and greens you have on hand. I used potatoes and spinach for the soup you see here, and it was absolutely delicious.

I listed some alternatives in the recipe, including yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans or peas. That means that you can make seasonal minestrone on cool days from fall through spring! I used canned beans here instead of cooking my own, which cuts the cooking time down to a reasonable weeknight level. The remaining ingredients are basic pantry items, including canned tomatoes, pasta, basic spices and onions.

how to make minestrone soup Why is this the best minestrone soup? This hearty minestrone is easy to make and totally worth the effort. The recipe calls for seasonal vegetables and affordable pantry ingredients. The soup packs great for lunch, and tastes even better the next day. It freezes and defrosts well, too. This homemade minestrone is infinitely better than the Olive Garden or store-bought varieties! I adapted this recipe from the lentil minestrone in my cookbook, which was based on my lentil soup. For this classic minestrone, I omitted the lentils, added white beans, upped the tomato paste, and reserved the final tablespoon of olive oil to mix in at the end.

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Want to start a food blog but don’t know where to start? I know how frustrating it can be to deal with technical stuff when you really just want to share that killer recipe. Whether you want to start a cooking blog, or you want to become a more successful food blogger, I hope these tips will ease your technical troubles. Ready to start a beautiful food blog? You have two options: Hire a web designer to do it for you. Custom designs usually cost thousands of dollars, but they are certainly an option if you have the money to spend. Be sure to ask for references and wait times before you write a check. Do it yourself. I’ll explain how to build your own self-hosted WordPress website below. It will cost you as little as $2.95 per month in hosting, plus the cost of a theme (free to $130). I built this site myself using the tools provided below, so I know you can do it! Please note that this page contains affiliate links. I only link to products I trust and wholeheartedly recommend. Thank you for your support. Start your own food blog: the basic steps Here are the basic steps to set up a self-hosted WordPress food blog that is both beautiful and functional. Your blog will have your own domain name and your own distinct look, and it will be able to scale with you as your blog grows. When you’re starting a food blog, I recommend following these steps for a greater shot at success. 1) Name your blog and buy a matching domain name. Domain names are short, memorable and typically end in .com (yourblogname.com). Cost: free with Bluehost or around $15 per year elsewhere. 2) Find a reliable web host. A web host stores your website and makes it accessible to the world wide web. In other words, your website “lives” on your web host’s servers. Cost: $2.95 per month and up. 3) Install WordPress. WordPress is top-of-the-line, industry standard blogging software. Cost: free! 4) Install a WordPress theme. Your WordPress theme will determine the look, feel and functionality of your website. Cost: free to $130. 5) Set up Google tools. Google offers invaluable tools and services like Google Analytics, Search Console and Feedburner. Cost: free! 6) Install WordPress plugins. WordPress plugins extend the functionality of WordPress in certain areas. For example, one of my recommended free WordPress plugins helps prevent spam comments. Cost: free, mostly! 7) Start blogging! Publish those recipes, stories and photos. Cost: hard work! Step 1: Name your blog and buy a matching domain name. Coming up with a name for your new blog might be the hardest step. You can start brainstorming by coming up with a short mission statement or by listing words that describe your cooking style, your lifestyle, your background, etc. Throw in your name and/or your dog’s name. ;) Talk it out with friends. There are tons of great names out there that aren’t yet taken, I promise! Characteristics of an ideal blog name Descriptive Memorable Short Easy to spell Once you have some potential names in mind for your blog, you’ll need to check their availability. Since .com is the standard domain suffix, keep trying potential names until you find one that is available in .com. Don’t resort to hyphens or other punctuation marks to make it work (they’re too hard to remember). Here’s a handy domain name checking tool from Bluehost. Enter your desired domain name, hit “Check domain” and it’ll tell you if your domain name is available. If so, snatch it up quick!