I think it would work fine with real tomatoes as long as they are nice and juicy. I make a minestrone using my home canned tomatoes and it works fine.

I would plunge them in boiling water for a minute or two and they peel and seed, don't worry about getting all the seeds, then chop them.

14 oz is just shy of two cups so I'd guess 3 or 4 tomatoes depending on size.

I think that recipe could handle a few more tomatoes without a problem.

Yes, you can substitute fresh tomatoes for canned in your soup and in just about any other recipe that calls for canned tomatoes. I wouldn't worry much about exact measurements, but 2 cups of chopped tomato should do it for you.

Ann

Wonder why they say to drain the canned tomatoes? I sure wouldn't!
And why not to use chicken broth unless it's supposed to be vegetarian?
Minestrone isn't chemistry...use fresh tomatoes and I wouldn't remove the seeds....I love that liquid around the seeds, I think it makes a good fresh taste.
Linda C

I generally use fresh in place of canned, especially when they are in season. I have thrown whole frozen tomatoes in soups, skins and all.

Mmmm I love a good Minestrone..

I'll have to try that myself..
Linda, I was reading some of the reviews..seems that people suggested more liquid..so not draining the tomatoes, and adding more veg stock..I like reviewed recipes..I think often you glean more from the reviewers than the OP.

Miltwalt, All I know is I could sure use a bowl of that right now..might clear my sinuses and make my throat feel a bit better.

What everyone else said !!!!! I wouldn't use too much tomatoes in Minestrone, unles you want it more like Tomatoe soup.

I used about 6 Quarts of fresh Tomatoes, pureed; from my DD's garden, for Spaghetti Sauce today.
I added a can of Crushed tomatoes and 2 small cans of Puree.
I was one of the best I've tasted. Not because I made it but because it was good.

Nobody could wait until it was done. They were dipping in
and stealing meatballs.
Had to put a knot on my GD's head with the wooded spoon.

Have a Good One !!!
LOU

I've made minestrone twice since seeing this recipe because it looked like the most interesting one I had seen, and I liked the comments from others who had made it. I made some revisions of my own (see link below). I omitted the frozen green beans and increased the amount of zucchini. My brother prefers it without spinach, and I've made it both ways and tend to agree with him - the spinach stays extremely hot and tends to burn my mouth, and it doesn't add appreciably to the flavor. I used farfalline pasta instead of shell pasta, and I did add some tomato paste. I also did not drain the tomatoes, and since I used whole ones, I puréed them in the can after draining them. When I chopped them instead of puréeing them, DB fished them out and wouldn't eat them. The first time I made it with canned beans because I didn't have time to cook dried beans, but the next time I cooked dried beans instead, and it was very much better. The canned beans made it taste like canned soup. My last adjustment was in the amount of celery - I first attempted to increase the celery, but this made it too crunchy, about DB preferred that. I thought it would help make up for the omission of the green beans.

Anyway, this is now one of my favorite soups to make. Thanks for sharing this!

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Lars' version of Minestrone