Sauté onions, carrots, and celery until translucent and tender.

Add spices and frozen cubes and let cook for two minutes while stirring to incorporate the spices.

Add tomatoes, beans, vegetable broth and marrow bones. Bring to a boil, then simmer for two-and-a-half hours (minimum of one hour if you’re short on time; keep in mind that if you opt to leave out the marrow bones you can cook this for less time).

Add spinach 30 minutes before serving and let cook for 15 to 30 minutes.

Now, before you go dumping the bag of pasta directly into your soup, beware there are two major reasons to take the extra time to cook the pasta separately: firstly, to prevent the pasta from absorbing the broth of the soup, and secondly, to avoid the soup becoming extra starchy (gloopy, if you will). Additionally, if you want to freeze this soup I find it tastes fresher when you freeze the soup without pasta mixed in.

Optional: Dice London broil and coat in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder and sear for two to three minutes per side until cooked through.

Turn off flame and add a splash of wine; scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Add half a cup tomato sauce (or some leftover juice from the cans). Cover and let the meat rest in the sauce. Store separately from the soup but add it along with the pasta right before eating.