Vegetable Minestrone Recipe

Having a good minestrone recipe up your sleeve can be a life saver as it’s a great way to use up leftovers of vegetables that lurk in the fridge. Adapt this recipe as you see ﬁt and use any veggies you like to create your own favourite.

Serves

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 celery stick, sliced
1 leek, sliced
3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400-g/14-oz. can chopped tomatoes
1½ litres/6 cups vegetable stock
Handful (about 70 g/2½ oz.) of broken spaghetti, or similar
400-g/14-oz. can cannellini or haricot beans, drained
250 g/9 oz. spinach or other greens, chopped
1–2 courgettes, diced
Bunch of fresh, ﬂat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon mixed dried herbs
Paprika, to taste (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, carrots, celery, leek and potatoes. Put the lid on the pan and sweat for a few minutes over a gentle heat, until the vegetables soften without colouring.

Add the garlic to the pan and continue cooking for a few minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, stock and pasta.

Bring the liquid to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are just tender and the pasta is almost cooked.

Add the beans, greens, courgettes and parsley to the pan and continue to cook for a few minutes until the greens are tender but still green.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and, if you like a little heat, stir in a little paprika. Serve generous portions of the soup in bowls.

Extracted from The Flexitarian Cookbook published by Ryland Peters & Small (£14.99) Photography © Ryland Peters & Small.

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