Minestrone
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- 2 celery sticks chopped
- 1 leek finely sliced
- 1 carrot chopped
- 400 g can chopped tomatoes
- 600 ml chicken stock
- or
- 600 ml vegetable stock
- 1 courgette diced
- ½ small cabbage shredded
- 1 bay leaf
- 75 g canned haricot beans
- 75 g dried spaghetti broken into small pieces, or small pasta shapes
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
- salt and pepper
- grated Parmesan cheese to serve
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, celery, leek and carrot and cook over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, courgette, cabbage, bay leaf and haricot beans. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the pasta and season to taste. Stir well and cook for a further 8 minutes. Keep stirring because the soup may stick to the base of the pan. Just before serving, add the parsley and stir well. Ladle into individual bowls and serve with grated Parmesan.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
For minestrone with rocket & basil pesto, make up the soup as above then ladle into bowls. Top with spoonfuls of pesto made by finely chopping 25 g (1 oz) rocket leaves and 25 g (1 oz) basil leaves, 1 garlic clove and 25 g (1 oz) pine nuts. Mix with 2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan, a little salt and pepper and 125 ml (4 fl oz) olive oil. Alternatively, put all the pesto ingredients into a liquidizer or food processor and whiz together.
