Dave - I expected to find the liquid and vegetables seperated when I took them out of the canner (like my pressured tomatoes usually look), but they were not. So the soup looks a little thicker than I had hoped, not 1/2 and 1/2, but not spaghetti sauce thick either. I did not add extra liquid. I think next time I will add water or beef broth to meet the 1/2 and 1/2 rule. I still feel comfortable enough to eat it. I was looking at a few recipes in the BBB. Things like spaghetti sauce and the Spicy Tomato Soup are relatively thick (tomato based) and are still safe at those processing times. And it's not as thick as Annie's Salsa. But I know it's all about approved and tested recipes. Thanks for your input!

The recommendation is to use dried beans, pre-soaked one of the 2 approved ways on the site linked below - 24 presoak or the boil, soak 1 hour and drain. Whenever it comes up for discussion most indicate they prefer the 24 hour long soak. That is how we do all out beans/peas. Keep in mind that there are density issues with PC soup so each ingredient needs to be prepard per the instructions for that vegetable. Be sure to dice into small pieces - especially the potatoes - and use ample liquid is required in each jar - 1/2 product and 1/2 liquid - and you can't add any pasta, rice, flour or thickeners. Not sure where you are getting the 1 hour 25 mins.? Recommended processing time is 75 mins. for quarts. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Soups

Thanks guys! It was wonderful IIDSSM- even my resident food critic liked it. He has a bit of a cold and midterms and likes spicy. When I went to the fridge, I found a hot pepper - my DH does the grocery shopping so sometimes I don't know what I'll find there. (If I know I'll need something and put it on the list he gets it, but otherwise he gets what looks good in produce and what we've been using up.) The problem with the hot peppers is sometimes I can't be sure what variety it is so the heat level is a bit of a surprise. There were also some leeks - really nice ones with the white and light green going way up. So I cleaned and sliced up a leek and the hot pepper and sauted them in olive oil. Added the roasted vegetables (which already had some garlic), a few cubes each of yam, zucchini, and green peas (the latter also had garlic because I made them when we were starting to introduce spices into GD's diet), the diced tomatoes with their liquid, and some water. Since I put in the hot pepper, I decided to go toward Indian/North African and added garbanzo beans along with crushed cardamom, coriander and cumin seeds. Served with Honey Oat Wheat bread I made and goat cheese. The food critic had PB&J on his bread because he particularly likes that with that bread.

In order to follow the 1/2 veggies and 1/2 liquid guideline, should I use a measuring cup to measure out the cut up veggies before adding them to the measured liquid? The half and half guideline refers to filling the jars not making the mix itself so as long as you have enough liquid to insure each filled jar is only 1/2 solids you can add whatever amounts of each you prefer. It is an eyeballed 1/2 and 1/2in the jars not necessarily a measured 1/2 and 1/2. Slotted spoon to strain out the veggies and into the jar until 1/2 full, then fill it the rest of the way with the liquid, ok? I assume I shouldn't really cook the soup much before processing, since it will be pressure canned for 75 minutes. Otherwise, the veggies may get way too cooked down? How long you cook all depends on the vegetables you use. Instructions say to cook each vegetable as called for in its own hot pack instructions so assuming no meat, no meat broth, or beans is included you'd look up the hot pack cooking times for each of your vegetables (or nearest equivalent) and then cook the soup for the longest of those times before filling the jars. For example carrots is 5 mins., kale and cabbage (spinach) is 3-5 mins., etc. Just off the top of my head (so double check your vegetables) I think most on your list would fall into the 5-8 mins. range. If you use other vegetables or meat or meat broth or beans then longer time is required. Dave PS: and no pastas even if it is a Minestrone.