MINESTRONE

Minestrone is one of those fabulous soup dishes  you can tailor-make to your preferences and the availability of vegetables.
It is easily re-heated so I always make a larger batch than you need for one meal.
You can also purée the reheated soup, making a soup with a lovely creamy consistency .

• I am using Borlotti beans I have soaked over night
• potatoes, pumpkin, cauliflower, celery, carrots, leeks, Spanish onion
• green beans, cabbage, zucchini, tomatoes, Italian parsley and basilico

• in some butter and oil, gently fry the chopped leeks until sweet and translucent
• now add the chopped onion, celery and carrots ( called ‘sofritto’ in Italian)
• cook for a few minutes

• add the drained Borlotti and the diced potatoes  ( I do not peel them)

• pour some good chicken or vegetable stock over these vegetables
• let it gently boil for about 20 minutes

• in the mean time Clementine is cutting the beans

• slice the cabbage thinly and cut the zucchini to bite size pieces
• cut a piece of pumpkin into bitesize chunks
• brake the cauliflower into small florets
• cut the tomatoes into 4 pieces

• add all the vegetables to the broth, this should just cover the vegetables
• add a little more broth if necessary
• let it gently boil until all vegetables are just tender

• chop the parsley and basilco and add to the soup

• I served the Minestrone with freshly grated Parmiggiano
• and a spoon of pesto