Minestrone Soup – serves 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 celery stalk sliced
- 1 large carrot sliced
- 65g green lentils
- 100g pasta of your choice
- 1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 ltr veg stock
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- Tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 Tbsp fresh parsley
- ½ tsp sugar
- 4 large handfuls of spinach
Method
- Saute onions in a tbls olive oil in a large pot for a few minutes on low heat. Add garlic and cook for another few minutes until onions are soft.
- Add the celery, carrot, oregano and chilli flakes. Cook, stirring frequently for 5 min.. Add a pinch of salt, some black pepper and ½ tsp sugar (this helps draw the sweetness of the carrots).
- Add 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 ltr of veg stock and the tin of chopped tomatoes.
- Stir and add the green lentils. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 min, taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- I cook the pasta separately in a pan of boiling water and salt and then discard the pasta water.
- Add the cooked pasta and the chopped parsley to the soup.
- To serve, put a large handful of washed spinach in the bowl and then add a few ladles of the soup. Let it sit for a few min to wilt the spinach.
- Mix together and enjoy!
