Lockdown and winter and roadworks combined really got me like :/ This minestrone brought me back up! Fresh and healthy and packed with veggies, it's the perfect lunch! I made a huge batch of it and basically fed on it all of last week, and I was so impressed with how delicious and easy it was I had to write it up.
I used carrot, zucchini, potato and cannellini beans for this, but really any veg you have in the fridge would be delicious. Any beans, too...but don't skip the parmesan! It added such an awesome flavour at the end! To make it vegetarian, skip the bacon and use veggie stock rather than chicken.
Serves: 4
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 50 minutes
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
2 rashers bacon, diced
1 brown onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 potato, peeled and diced
800g can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
400g can cannellini beans, drained
1 zucchini, diced
1 cup spiral pasta (or any small pasta - not spaghetti or fettucini, obvs)
60g baby spinach
1/4 cup parmesan
Basil pesto, extra parmesan and cracked black pepper, to serve
Method:
Heat oil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the bacon and fry until crispy.
Add the onions and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Add carrot and potato and stir everything to combine. Cook for around 2 minutes before pouring in the can of tomatoes, stock, water, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.
Bring to a simmer, pop a lid on and lower the heat. Cook for around 35 minutes.
Remove the lid and add the beans, zucchini and pasta (I like to add the zucchini quite late in the game to it retains a bit of a bite and doesn't go all mushy. If you're more into mushy zuke, add it along with the carrot and potato). Replace lid and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Remove from the heat, add spinach and parmesan and stir through. Divide between bowls and top with pesto, extra parmesan and cracked black pepper to serve.
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