Filled with vegetables and pasta, our Spinach Orzo Soup can be a meal unto itself or part of an Italian feast. We don’t use a lot of seasonings in this soup as it gets a boost of flavor from fire roasted tomatoes. If you cannot find fire roasted tomatoes, regular diced tomatoes work well too, however, you will want to up the seasoning. You can make the broth portion of the soup ahead of time, but don’t add the pasta until you are close to serving. If you add the pasta too soon, it will absorb most of the broth. If this happens, just add some more vegetable broth to the pot. Adding the spinach right before serving keeps the spinach from wilting too much and disappearing in the soup.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 – 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small white onion, peeled and diced
3 carrots, diced (1 1/2 cups)
3 stalks celery, diced (1 1/2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 cups vegetable broth
1 14oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups orzo
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
4 cups loosely-packed spinach
salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for 4 minutes, until soft.

2. Add carrots, celery and garlic and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

3. Add vegetable broth, tomatoes, orzo, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. Stir to combine.

4. Bring soup to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.

5. Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is bright green and wilted.

6. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve warm.