Minestrone soup is a traditional Italian soup prepared with seasonal vegetables. We often use vegetables at home that happen to be growing in the garden or available from the local fruit and veg shop.
This version is a recreation of a minestrone I had at the Amici Restaurant in Coleford that serves this as a hearty nutritious fare. In fact it’s wise to come with an empty stomach simply because a serving as a starter is very filling. It seems a good soup for anyone dieting, adopting a vegan lifestyle and looking to lose a few pounds.
Make sure the celery is well washed – nothing worse than gritty celery. A Savoy or Greyhound cabbage provides most of the greens but kale works just as well. We prefer kale although it is not a vegetable to everyone’s palate that gets served at most Italian restaurants. It’s what is available in the garden that counts.
The pasta is usually spaghetti but Gino D’Acampo fpr example uses conchiglie pasta shells and a few other chefs have tried different but small pasta shapes as alternatives. The perfectionist would use the same pasta but I’ve often thrown in broken bits of pasta including some that happened to be end of bag as it were and would never see the light of day anywhere else. The key is having that pasta in there which provides both protein and carbohydrate.
Good for vegans.
Easy to prepare.
Preparation:10 mins – 15 mins Cooking:30 mins
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 2-3 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped – the more the merrier!
- 1 large white or yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 250g French beans (optional – when in season)
- 3-4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 large or 3-4 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces and diced up
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 litres vegetable stock (homemade or bought in cubes)
- 400g can chopped Italian or ordinary tomatoes
- small bunch parsley stalks and leaves (Optional). A few leaves serve as garnish.
- 400g can butter or cannellini beans drained
- 140g spaghetti, snapped into short lengths.
- ½ head Savoy cabbage or equivalent number of kale leaves, shredded
- baguette bread or other crusty bread
Preparation of Minestrone Soup:
- Put the carrots, onion and celery in a food blender and roughly cut into small pieces but not too fine. The alternative is to chop all the vegetables into small chunks by hand which takes longer but so what! I like to see the bits and it’s what the nonna would do.
- Heat oil in a pan, then add the vegetables, garlic, parsley stalks if available and potatoes, then cook on a high heat for 5 minutes until softened.
- Stir in the tomato purée, tomatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, keep covered, for 10 mins.
- Put the beans and pasta into the mix, then cook for a further 10 mins, adding the cabbage for the final 2 mins. Season to taste and serve with bread.
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