soup's on - Minestrone

I may be peaking a little early with all these soups but it was my off Friday. This particular Minestrone has sun-dried tomato (NOT oil packed). I did skip the ham for the vegetarian in my life, but bacon would have been better, right. I have since been studying a Cook's magazine that has the "perfect" Minestrone. It uses a Parmesan cheese rind to help the stock which I usually have and will try next time. Here is what I did. As usual it is a bit of a combo of two recipes.

Minestrone

1/2 c. sun dried tomato
2 c. boiling water
3 c. onions, chopped (small but not tiny)
1 1/2 c. carrots, chopped
1 1/2 c. celery, chopped
4 garlic cloves
1 can diced tomatoes with liquid(I like petite cut)
1 can cannelilli beans (Cook's has a great list of whose are best)
1 zucchini cut long ways and sliced (this is a nice big cut instead of dicing)
1/4 c. sliced basil and or flat leafed parsley
1 t. salt
3/4 t. pepper
pasta of you choice or not
1/4 c. finely grated parm

Rehydrate the tomatoes (about 30 min.) and keep the liquid. Saute the onions, garlic, carrots, celery and julienne cut sun dried tomatoes until tender (5 min). Add liquid from hydrating the tomatoes, 6 c. of water, and can of tomatoes. Boil mixture, then cover reduce heat and simmer for 1/2 hour or so. Add zucchini and beans and heat for 5 min. Stir in basil and parsley, salt and pepper. Adjust the salt to taste. A critical item for every soup. Top soup with parm.