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Minestrone Soup

Recipe created by Brooke Malouf

10min prep, 20min cook time, serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 1 Onion
  • 3 Garlic cloves
  • Olive oil 2 tablespoons
  • 1 L Chicken broth, beef broth or veg broth
  • 1 can Kidney beans
  • 1 can Butter beans or cannellini beans
  • 1 can chopped tomato – like Mutti polpa. (Or 2 whole tomatoes chopped. Or 4-6 baby truss tomatoes halved.)
  • Kale or spinach – 2 cups or 2 large handfuls
  • Carrots – 1 bunch baby, or 2 large
  • Celery 3 sticks
  • Oregano or thyme – dried 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp fresh
  • Rosemary – dried 1/2 tsp or 1 tsp fresh
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • Potato x 1 or sweet potato 1/2
  • Zucchini x 1
  • Long green beans x 1/2 cup
  • Brown rice/ wholegrain pasta half cup – macaroni or bow tie style
  • 1 capsicum

Optional:

  • Parmesan – a tablespoon to serve
  • Chilli flakes – to serve
  • Lemon wedge – to serve (makes plant/non heme iron more bioavailable! )

Optional: 2 strips of preservative free prosciutto to fry with golden onion at start.

Optional: only 1 can beans & 1 cup pasta instead.

Method:

  1. Chop all veg as prep.
  2. Fry onion with olive oil on medium-high heat, stir until golden – don’t let it burn, (add chopped prosciutto if you wish), and garlic.
  3. Add herbs, bay leaves, then broth, then one tin of tomato or freshly chopped tomatoes.
  4. Bring temperature down to a gentle simmer to let the flavours come together for about 10-20 minutes.
  5. Add potato, carrots , or any other hard veg you’ve used – simmer for 5-10 mins,
  6. Add pasta – 10 minutes (check packet for timing), and add soft green veg & beans 5 minutes before the end.
  7. Take off heat, serve immediately, and enjoy with a small bit of parmesan, chilli flakes and lemon.

Note: if not using canned, then just 1 cup beans, or 1/2 cup of two different kinds, soaked overnight (can add sprinkle of Bicarbonate soda to help release the phytic acid), then rinsed well, and pre-boiled.

Recipe by Brooke Malouf from Nourish with Brooke