Italian Vegetable Soup
My ode to a warming bowl of soup made from humble ingredients, to stave of the chill of an English January. This is a soup with a flavourful broth, tomato, vegetables and comforting mini pasta.
I daren’t call this week’s recipe a Minestrone after some very strong opinions on my Instagram account about what constitutes a classic Minestrone. Over the years the strongest trolling I have received has been on my interpretation of Italian cookery, the fact I cook and eat meat and breastfeeding versus formula milk. The latter of which was perhaps the most intense. I remain immensely grateful that for now it has been contained to these topics. As opening oneself up online is not without trepidation. I am empathetic to this mild backlash against my Minestrone as with no Italian heritage I am not best appointed to share a traditional version. Furthermore, across Italy there are endless regional variations of Minestrone, each one more delicious than the next. In Liguria there is a Minestrone alla Genovese which uses more herbs and is served with a pesto. In Sardinian Minestrone uses fregola, which are tiny balls of durum wheat pasta. It is said that there are as many versions as there are cooks in Italy.
There are also Minestrone’s cousins and the soups that immediately come to mind are equally delicious. Pasta e Fagioli with pasta and beans as the main ingredients. Tuscan Ribollita made with seasonal greens, namely Cavolo Nero, white beans and stale Tuscan bread. Or Zuppa Toscana which has a creamier consistency due to the addition of cream or milk. This week’s recipe is therefore inspired by the titans of great Italian soup where the principle is a simple meal, or primo piatti (the course between a starter and main), with hearty depth. A soup with a flavourful broth, tomato, a variety of beautiful Italian vegetables and a small pasta shape. This is my ode to a warming bowl of soup made from humble ingredients, to stave of the chill of an English January.
Recipe of the Week
Italian Vegetable Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions
2 sticks celery
2 carrots
1 courgette
2 medium potatoes, skin on
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1.2 litres homemade chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
x1 tin (400g) plum tomatoes
100g pasta (I am using farfaline pasta)
handful of green beans, washed and cut into three
handful of kale, washed, trimmed and finely shredded
extra virgin olive oil, to serve
finely grated Parmesan, to serve
Prep onion, celery, carrot, courgette and potato: simply, wash, trim, peel (if necessary) and dice.
Take a large pot and soften the onion in olive oil for 10 minutes until translucent: add the celery, carrot and courgette cook for a further 10 minutes until soft. Add the aromatics: crushed garlic, bay leaf and dried oregano. Next add the plum tomatoes, diced potato and chicken stock, bring everything up to a gentle boil. Cook at a simmer for 25 mins, or until the potatoes are tender and the liquid has reduced a little.
Add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions until al-dente (as the pasta will continue to cook as the soup sits off the heat). Maybe 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time add green beans and kale until just cooked. If you need to add a little more stock/ water, until you have a consistency you like.
To serve remove the bay leaf to discard; ladle into warm bowls. Drizzle with good quality extra virgin olive oil and scatter with a grating of Parmesan.