A perfect solution for a cold night: a warming bowl of this chunky italian soup.
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: minestrone soup, pesto, soup
Servings: 6people
Ingredients
2Tbspolive oil
1oniondiced
2carrotsdiced
2celery stickstrimmed and diced
1fennel bulbtrimmed and diced
1small red chilliseeded and diced
2garlic clovescrushed
2x400gcans of chopped tomatoes
1.2lvegetable stock
1Tbsptomato puree
150ggspaghettisnapped into short lengths
100ggreen beanstrimmed and diced
1Tbsptorn fresh basil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
pesto to garnish(home made or good-quality shop-bought)
sourdough bread, to serve(optional)
Instructions
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
Add the onion, carrots, celery, fennel, chilli and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes until softened but not beginning to brown. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, stock and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until the liquid has slightly reduced and all the vegetables are completely tender.
Add the spaghetti and simmer for another 10 minutes, until the spaghetti is done- tender but still with a little bite.
Stir in the green beans and basil, then season to taste and cook for another minutes or two, until the beans are just tender. Ladle into warmer bowls, then add a swirl of pesto to each one. Serve with sourdough bread, if liked.
Notes
If you don`t want to add pasta, cooked beans or rice also work well and help to make it a satisfying option, which is actually very healthy and nutritious.