Minestrone is a classic Italian dish and very quick and easy to prepare. You can use whatever veggies you have available which gives plenty of room for variations.
Fresh tomatoes and pasta guarantee the Italian flavour and if that isn’t enough just add lots of parmesan to your soup.
Level: Easy | Time: 45 minutes | serves 6
Ingredients
1 stalk of celery, peeled and cut into small pieces
3 spring onions, cut into small pieces
1 small garlic glove, grated or chopped very finely
3 small carrots, peeled and cut in small pieces
3 small potatoes, peeled and cut in small pieces
150 grams of green beans, cut in 2 centimetre pieces
1 can of white beans
4 tomatoes, skinned and cut in pieces
1 litre of vegetable or chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta (small shapes or Spaghetti broken up in smaller pieces), 150 grams
1 bay leave, 3 stalks of fresh Thyme or 1 small TS of dried Thyme
Preparation
- Wash and cut all the vegetables. Skin the tomatoes and cut them into smaller pieces as well.
- Bring 1 litre of good quality vegetable or chicken stock to the boil and add all the veggies, garlic, beans, tomatoes and herbs.
- In a separate bowl cook the pasta until al dente. You can cook the pasta in the same pot as the rest of the soup. As it makes the soup fairly cloudy, I prefer to cook the pasta separately.
- Cook the soup uncovered on a medium heat for 20 minutes. When the all the veggies are nicely cooked add the pasta to the soup.
- Serve with parmesan cheese and roasted Ciabatta bread.
Simply Soup 