This morning’s blustery walk along the river front with the dogs, left me cold, hungry, and in much need of a bowl of hot soup. It’s on day like this, I’m thankful for one of the single portions I keep in the freezer and this minestrone soup is just the ticket.
My minestrone soups are never the same as you’ll see from the recipe on last weeks organic veg bag post. This soup was made with the vegetables I had left in the basket, and if you have any leftover cooked vegetables add them in at the end. It’s the kind of soup that you can squeeze so many different types of vegetables into. What’s in season or what you have leftover will never go wrong in minestrone soup. It’s a real powerhouse of nutrition. Don’t overcook the vegetables, that way the nutritional benefits are retained, remember ‘you are what you eat’.
Other vegetables such as parsnips, celeriac, potatoes, sweet potatoes will work just as well. Sometimes I add frozen beans or peas and in summer, there’s courgettes and peppers as usually there’s a plentiful cheap supply.
With the addition of the pasta in minestrone along with some crusty bread on the side, you have a really nourishing, meal, bursting full of flavour.
Minestrone soup. A powerhouse of nutrition
- 1 tablespoon oil. (I use rapeseed)
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 leek chopped
- 4 rashers of bacon ( use vegetable stock cubes if you prefer a meat free stock)
- 2 cloves of garlic – crushed
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 celery stick – chopped
- Small piece of turnip chopped
- 400g tin of tomatoes
- 1litre of water or stock
- 1 teaspoon of dried mixed or Italian herbs.
- 100g frozen peas or broad beans
- 150g pasta
- Heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and leek and gently cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic & bacon (if using) and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
- Add the turnip, carrots, celery, turnip, and continue cooking for 1 minute.
- Add the tin of tomatoes, the herbs, along with the water or stock and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- Stir in the pasta and continue simmering for approximately 8 -10 minutes. When the pasta is almost cooked, stir in the peas or beans and cook for 3 – 4 minutes.