Minestrone is an Italian soup made from whatever is left in the fridge. The autumn market has everything it needs: courgettes, carrots, celery, green beans and tomatoes. With white beans and a little pasta, it is filling enough for a whole lunch.
Ingredients
- 3 tbspolive oil
- 1 (150 g)onion
- 2 medium (200 g)carrots
- 2 stalks (100 g)celery
- 3 clovesgarlic
- 4 medium (500 g)ripe tomatoes
- 2 medium (300 g)potatoes
- 2 medium (400 g)courgettes
- 200 ggreen beans
- 400 gcanned white beans, drained
- 80 gsmall pasta (ditali or elbow macaroni)
- 1.5 lwater
- 1bay leaf
- 1 tspsalt, plus more to taste
- to tastefreshly ground black pepper
- 10 leavesfresh basil
- 40 gParmesan, to serve
Method
Cut the vegetables
Dice the onion, carrots and celery into 1 cm cubes. Cut the potatoes and courgettes into cubes of about 1.5 cm. Snap the green beans into 2 cm pieces. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, peel them and chop roughly.
Cut a cross in the tomatoes before you scald them and the skin will come off in seconds.
Fry the base
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pot over medium heat. Fry the onion, carrots and celery for 8 minutes, until the onion turns translucent. Add the garlic and stir for 1 more minute.
Simmer with tomatoes and potatoes
Add the tomatoes and bay leaf and cook for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes break down. Add the potatoes, water and 1 tsp salt. When it boils, turn down the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Add the beans
Add the green beans and the drained white beans. Cook for 10 minutes, until the green beans are tender but still slightly crisp.
Add the courgettes and pasta
Add the courgettes and pasta and cook for another 8–10 minutes, until the pasta is soft but not falling apart.
Add the courgettes last, because they cook fast and fall apart otherwise.
Season and rest
Remove the bay leaf and season with salt and black pepper. Take the pot off the heat, leave it covered for 5 minutes, then tear the basil over the soup.
How to serve
Serve in deep bowls with grated Parmesan, a few basil leaves and a slice of crusty bread.
Did you know
Minestrone is a traditional Italian soup with no single recipe, and the vegetables in it change with the season and the region.
Per serving (approximate): 390 kcal · protein 15 g · fat 13 g · carbohydrates 50 g