I'm the soup chef and I must admit I have no fixed recipe, but here's the basics.
Prepare a bag of your favorite beans: navy, great northern, pinto, mixed-bag, whatever. About a pound soaked and boiled until ready to eat but firm. DO NOT DRAIN. Set aside.
In the main soup pot, get a bottom cover of canola oil heated and add a tablespoon or so of olive oil for flavor. When hot, toss in four or five minced cloves of garlic and let it sizzle for a few minutes, rendering the flavor, then add two or three yellow onions, the strong kind, thinly chopped.
That will sizzle away for several minutes until the water renders out, and as it does, about a half cup of finely chopped celery goes in.
When you have a slurry of oil and onion/celery at the bottom, dump in about a quart (a 22oz can or better yet four fresh cups) of diced tomatoes. This is when I add bouillon, use a quality powdered bouillon, I prefer beef bouillon to stand up to the other bold flavors. Let that mix simmer until it tastes balanced but way-too-strong. This is also when you add salt and pepper to taste. Make it too strong, because you will be adding in a large volume of vegetable matter.
When it seems well-combined add back the beans INCLUDING the water used to boil them. Here's where two to four cups of coarsely-diced zucchini would go in, as well as three or four coarsely-diced potatoes and three or four sliced carrots. A can of chana (garbanzos), frozen corn niblets, okra, whatever you like to top it off.
I hope you used a very big pot because you're getting enough soup to last a few days. Add more seasoning (bouillon, salt, pepper, etc.) to taste. The result does not have a lot of broth, it's almost a brothy stew. It's done when the potatoes and carrots are cooked through. If need be, you can add water to get the pot back in balance (the potatoes might absorb a lot of the liquid).
If you want pasta with it, use bow-ties but keep them separate and only add them in the serving bowl.
I hope this makes sense, and I hope you'll let me know if you give it a try. We just LOVE this soup/stew and eat it a lot, which is why I don't use a set recipe. Change it up and it never gets boring! Use red kidney beans one time, or chicken bouillon, or a pound of frozen ground turkey, or use all chickpeas; add in green beans or green peas or limas or whatever. The essence of minestrone as I understand it is a soup filled with whatever is on hand.
Good grief, man -— you cook like me and my husband!!!!!
I’ve never found a recipe I couldn’t improve upon. LOL!