Soup series 3: Chunky Minestone

Here is the third soup from my series, which is chunky minestrone. The others in the series can be found here. A well known soup, which is vegetable packed and so hearty and filling due to the potato and pasta it contains. My version is quite chunky and thick, but you can easily thin it out as I mention later. This comforting soup is full of different textures, and is very low fat! 

Ingredients

3 carrots

1 onion

1/2 fennel bulb or 2 celery sticks

2 garlic cloves

2 sweet potatoes (or normal potatoes)

2 tbsp tomato purée

400g tin chopped tomatoes

3 pints vegetable stock

400g tin of cannellini beans (or if starting with dry beans, soak 100g)

100g soup pasta (or spaghetti snapped up)

1/2 savoy cabbage

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to season

olive oil

I have started soaking my own beans as I eat quite a lot and it is so much cheaper to do it this way. It can be a bit of a hassle and you have to prepare them in advance as most require overnight soaking and then simmering for 1-1.5 hours. I truly do think they taste so much better though. I like to do batches of different beans at the weekend, and then store them in Tupperware in the fridge for the following week so they are ready to use as and when. One thing I will mention if you do this - remember to top up the water during cooking. They simmer for a long time and the cooking water goes down quickly - you don't want them to boil dry!

Now for the recipe! Roughly chop your carrots, onion, and fennel/celery. Using a food processor whizz all 3 ingredients. 

Now peel and dice the potatoes and crush the garlic. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan, and add the processed vegetables, as well as the potatoes and garlic. Cook this for 5 minutes until softened. 

Add the tomato puree, vegetable stock (I used 2 oxo cubes and boiling water to make this), and canned tomatoes. Season well with salt and pepper. Allow to boil and then reduce the heat so it is simmering for 10 minutes.

Add the beans and pasta and cook for about 10 minutes. Whilst the pasta cooks, shred the cabbage. 

Add the cabbage and cook for 2 minutes. The cabbage turns the soup really thick, so add some boiling water if you would like it thinner.

Now all that is left to do is serve it up! Minestrone goes great with some fresh crusty bread, although as it is so filling, you may not always want anything with it!

There are 3 soups left to come in my series. The next one coming is a beautiful vibrant pink colour - what do you think is the key ingredient?!