Hearty minestrone
An Italian inspired soup with chunky vegetables and pasta, perfect to feed a crowd on cooler autumn evenings. Loaded with veges, you can also add leftover chicken or beef.
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves, grated or 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
- 750ml (3 cups) reduced salt chicken stock*
- 500ml (2 cups) water
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 2 large carrots, cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
- 200g dry pasta*
- 1/3 pumpkin *, cut into 1cm cubes
- 2 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 150g (1 cups) frozen peas*
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 150g frozen chopped leaf spinach*
* These ingredients are shared with other recipes from the weekly meal planner.
Method
- Heat oil in a large pot on the stove over medium high heat. Sauté onions until softened and stir through garlic, fry until fragrant. Mix in the dried mixed herbs.
- Carefully pour in the stock, water, and chopped tomatoes into the pot. Stir through the carrots, cover with a lid and turn the heat to high to bring to a boil.
- Add potatoes, stir and bring to a boil. Add pasta, cook for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Mix in pumpkin, cannellini beans, and peas, bring to a boil and test taste, adding salt and pepper if needed. Stir through the frozen spinach, once simmering and pasta and vegetables are tender it is ready to serve.
Cooking tips:
- For extra flavour add your favourite spices.
- This recipe is great for using up any leftover roast beef, roast chicken or deli meat – stir it in with the cannellini beans.
- The pasta can be cooked separately and added in portions to maintain the texture.
Adapt it:
- You can swap the cannellini beans for chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, or any pulses that you enjoy. Alternatively, you can swap them for shredded chicken.
- Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock for a vegetarian version.
- Use gluten free pasta if required. It can go soft very easily, so it’s better to cook separately and add as you serve.
Kid-friendly alternatives:
- You can swap out the spinach for extra frozen peas or corn if you prefer.
- Try using fun pasta shapes for kids such as the animal ones and call it zoo soup!
Leftover tips:
- Eat for lunch the next day or portion into containers and freeze. If cooking the pasta separately, this can also be frozen in portions and reheated with the soup base.