Fall Dinner Party Minestrone Soup Recipe

Today I’m sharing a Fall Dinner Party Minestrone Soup Recipe, along with tips how to set a table with gorgeous pieces from Simon Pearce!

I love the autumn season for entertaining in our backyard. Truly, Oregon is beautiful this time of year!

I love to grace a table with elegant dishware, simple flowers (’tis the seasons for mums), and beautiful people. Sometimes we complicate entertaining so much–even when we have dishes stashed in our buffet or cabinets, easy to pull out and set a quick table–that we scare ourselves from doing it.

Minestrone Soup Recipe

Today, this post Fall Dinner Party Minestrone Soup Recipe is just that … elegant and beautiful and tasty!

There’s no excuse with my easy fall dinner party menu today. It’s the ultimate autumn food, because everyone loves a seasonal appetizer, wine (or water), crunchy bread, a robust soup, and a fresh salad. Add an elegant dessert on top of that: You are set for the perfect evening.

But what is the perfect evening? What I love about this dinner party is, yes, the table is elegant and beautiful, and the menu is so very simple, but it removes the gloss of impressing others with “the party.” I’m finding joy in the true meaning of bringing people together in an intimate space, and the faithful practice of getting to know others, and serving others, in my “entertaining.”

Setting the table

It’s about loosening our grip on perfection and control and embracing so much good around us!

Functional and comfortable

I want my table to be a beautiful place where friends will gather. It needs to be functional, comfortable, and a place where our guests can feel vulnerable. Because that is where it’s at, folks, a place to give, to share stories, to be challenged, and to sit and talk for hours.

A place where honesty is valued over image.

A way of life

Hospitality has become a way of life for our family. Imperfect and evolving. As we break the bread, drink the wine, ingest the warm, hearty soup, along with a bite of hot buttered bread.

Give and take around the table

We don’t always agree, but we give each other space to share, and room to grow. We humble ourselves to realizing that we are not always right. It’s give and take around the table, and it’s a beautiful thing.

I was talking with a friend just this week. Our lives are messy, especially the more involved we become with each other. We invest, and we grow.

People change me

People change me, they change the way I invite others to our home. Wouldn’t it be something if we could all approach hospitality with the same vulnerability that we offer our closest friends in our lives: This is us, right now, this is what we have to give, this is what we stand for, how we desire to change the world, dreams and goals to make this world a better place, a place to grow, and to be changed, and to hear your views, and to listen closely, and to provide love and comfort (and good food) …

… can we sit and talk for hours?

Fall Dinner Party Minestrone Soup Recipe

Setting the outdoor space with Simon Pearce beautiful glassware pieces, we start off with wine and a seasonal appetizer.

Hang a fall wreath from the trees. (I bought this at Target.)

Serve the appetizers and drinks before sitting down for dinner.

Set the salad on the table with bread. You can toss ahead of time to make it easier on the guests.

Pour the wine and make sure the water glasses are filled.

Serve the guests servings of Minestrone Soup.

Dessert is off to the side on a simple cake plate, covered with a dome to protect it from the outdoor elements.

When my husband and I fall into bed after a dinner party, we feel good.

The sacrifice, energy, money, and time that we put into a dinner party is a reflection of our stories, imperfect but real.

Fall Dinner Party Menu

Appetizer: Roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, and fresh bread

Soup: Minestrone Soup {recipe below}

Salad: Quick Easy Green Salad Recipe

Dessert: Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting

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Get the Recipe:

Fall Dinner Party Minestrone Soup Recipe

Sandy Coughlin

Double the recipe for a dinner party.

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr

Yield: 6 -8

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, minced
• 1 can cut green beans
• 2 stalks minced celery
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cans, 15 oz Bush’s Beans kidney beans, drained
• 1 can, 15 oz Bush’s Garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can, 14 oz diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 chopped carrots
• 2 tablespoons minced parsley
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3 cups hot water
• 8 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1 cup small shell pasta, I use DeLallo brans
• 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers, optional
• Parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions

 

• Measure olive oil into a large stock pot and heat on medium.
• Put the onion, celery, garlic, and carrots into the pot and saute for about 5 minutes or until the onions become translucent.
• Add the vegetable broth, drained tomatoes, beans, green beans, hot water and spices to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste!
• Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes.
• Add the spinach leaves and the pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes.
• Serve with Parmesan cheese!

Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!

This post is a REPOST from September 2015 and  sponsored by Simon Pearce, but as always, all opinions are my own.