MINESTRONE SOUP

This is an Italian classic - a fantastic, nourishing soup that makes a whole meal! This recipe serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 onion
  • 1 large/2 med carrots
  • 1 stick celery
  • 200g cabbage/spinach/spring greens/cavalo nero
  • 1 large courgette
  • 2 cubes or 30g vegetable or chicken stock powder
  • 2 x 400g tin tomatoes
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 litre water (hot) + 500ml for later
  • 100g macaroni (or alternative small pasta
  • 100g tinned cannellini beans
  • 100g tinned sweetcorn
  • 30g parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 bunch parsley
  • ​Salt & pepper

UTENSILS:
  • Chopping board
  • Vegetable peeler
  • Med pan
  • Mixing spoon
  • Ladle
  • Measuring jug
  • Soup bowls

METHOD:
  1. Peel and dice the onion and carrot – place in a pan
  2. Dice the celery and courgette – add to the pan
  3. Roughly dice the cabbage – Cut in half, cut out the core (a triangle), slice down, then across into a dice – add to pan
  4. Crumble over the stock cubes
  5. Add the tinned tomato, bay leaf and the oregano
  6. Season – salt, pepper
  7. Cover with 2 litres of the water, mix up all the veg and put on the lid
  8. Turn on the heat and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are soft - approx. 20 minutes
  9. Then add the pasta, and a further 500ml water and cook for a further 20 minutes, until the pasta is soft.
  10. While the soup is cooking, grate the parmesan and chop the parsley, ready for plating up
  11. When the soup is cooked, turn off the heat, drain and add the beans and sweetcorn, mix in and leave the soup off the heat for the flavours to infuse
  12. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste with salt, pepper – you can crumble a bit more stock powder if you feel it needs it to deepen the flavour – mix well
  13. Plate up into a bowl and garnish with the parmesan and fresh parsley