Description
A warming bowl of minestrone is always a cheery sight on a cold night. This soup is an excellent way to use up any vegetables you have about. It's a classic version of the Italian soup by Antonio Carluccio. Make it a more substantial meal with a hunk of toasted bread or add some Parma ham, prosciutto, cooked ham or bacon chunks.
Ingredients
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 2 celery stalks
- 1 leek
- 1.5 vegetable stock
- 1 broccoli head
- 6 french beans
- 1 courgette
- 1 potato
- 1 tomato
- 40g macaroni
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
Dice the carrot and the onion. Slice the celery stalks and the leek. Divide the broccoli into florets. Cut the french beans and the courgette in 2 cm pieces. Peel the tomato, remove the seeds and chop it. In a large pot, heat the oil and sauté the carrot, onion and celery until lightly browned. Add the stock , bay leaf and broccoli and bring to the boil. Add the leek, french beans, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the courgette and macaroni and continue cooking until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato, remove the bay leaf, stir in the basil and serve.
Notes
Serving suggestion: Add grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. You could also add a spoon of fresh, homemade Pesto in place of the basil.