Vegetarian Vegetable Soup

Vegetable soup is a soup that I feel you can create any way you like it.  I like cabbage, corn, broccoli, beans, peas, carrots and zucchini in mine** but feel free to use what you love.

Vegetarian Vegetable Soup:

2 T Olive oil
2 T Butter
1 Leek, white part only, chopped
1 C Onions, chopped roughly
1 Small Shallot, chopped
1 Clove garlic, minced
4 Pounds vegetables**
2 C Potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 C Tomatoes, peeled*, seeded and chopped
10 C Vegetable stock
1 T Tomato paste
Handful of pasta
1/3 C Parsley, chopped
10 Sprigs of thyme, chopped
Juice of one lemon
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Heat butter and olive oil in stockpot.  Place leeks, onions, shallots, garlic and a pinch of salt in the pot.  Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.
2.  Put your vegetables in two different bowls, the vegetables that cook "fast" ie the broccoli and the vegetables that cook "slow" ie the green beans, carrots, peas, etc. 
3.  Add your "slow" cook vegetables and potatoes and continue to cook for 8 minutes. 
4.  Add the stock and bring to a boil; turn down and simmer for 20 minutes.
5.  After add the tomatoes, tomato paste, any of "fast" cook vegetables and the pasta.
6.  Reduce to low and cook until vegetables are tender and pasta done, about 15-18 more  minutes.
7.  Remove from heat and add parsley, thyme and lemon juice. 
8.  Salt to taste.

Serves 6-8

Tip:  *An easy way to peel tomatoes is to boil a pot of water, cut an X on the bottom of the tomatoes (only cutting through the skin)
 Place in the water for 30 seconds and

Put straight into a water bath for 1 minute.  When you pull the tomato out, you should be able to peel the skin off really easy where you put the X in it.

**These are some of the vegetables that I genuinely love to use; broccoli, carrots, green beans, corn and zucchini.