Easy Vegetable Soup
My easy vegetable soup which is a take on a classic Minestrone recipe. Don’t panic at this ingredient list ~vegetables, stock, herbs, tomatoes and a handful of pasta are at the heart of this soup. It is a bowl of goodness and so incredibly comforting. You can use vegetables you want to use up, I normally literally add what I have to hand in the fridge. It is the perfect lunch, for my kids I serve a good spoonful with less of the liquid and more of the pasta which they love.
Serve with a drizzle of a good extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmesan and a lovely crusty bread. For adults a final pinch of sea salt will amp up the flavour.
I freeze this without adding the pasta, , as it doesn’t freeze well (in my opinion). Defrost, warm the soup through add more stock and cook the pasta into the soup, before you want to eat. That will give you the best results everytime.
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
vegetables: 2 onions, 2 sticks celery, 1 small leek, 3 carrots, 1 courgette, 2 medium potatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1.2 litres stock (chicken, or vegetable preferably homemade, or low-salt stock cube)
x1 tin (400g) plum tomatoes
x1 tin (400g) cannelloni beans
110g pasta
handful of green beans, washed and cut into three
handful of kale, washed, trimmed and finely shredded (optional)
extra virgin olive oil and Parmesan, to serve
Prep onion, celery, carrot, leek, courgette and potato. Simply, wash, trim, peel (if necessary) and dice.
Take a large pot and soften the onion in a little olive oil for 10 minutes until translucent: add the celery, leek, carrot, courgette and potato, cook for a further 10 minutes until soft. Next add the aromatics: crushed garlic, bay leaf and dried oregano. These are all optional but they will add wonderful flavour to the finished soup. Next add the plum tomatoes, beans and stock. Then 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.
If freezing, stop and cool the soup now, ready for your freezer. Or continue to finish the soup by adding the pasta. Cook according to the packet instructions (10-12 mins approx), you want to cook the pasta al-dente, it will continue to cook as the soup sits off the heat. Finally add green beans and kale for the last few minutes, or until just cooked. If you need to add a little more stock, until you have a consistency you like.
Remove the bay leaf to discard. Serve in bowls with a drizzle of good quality olive oil and a grating of Parmesan.