Minestrone Soup

This Minestrone soup is full of vegetables to help provide those 5 portions per day. I looked at lots of recipes and made this one myself using the ingredients I had available from what was in season. The beans give some added protein and the bacon adds extra flavour. For a vegan minestrone soup or vegetarian minestrone soup variation omit the bacon and use vegetable stock.

Ingredients

1 tin of haricot beans--410gm--1 1/2 cups

olive oil for frying

2 onions finely diced

2 garlic cloves diced fine

2 leeks sliced and diced and washed

1 to 2 pints of stock, chicken or vegetable homemade or a good quality cube

1 jar of tomato puree--300gm--1 1/2 cups

1/2 cup pasta the smallest shapes you can get

1 tin of sweet corn--285gm --1 1/2 cups

1/2 small cauliflower cut into small florets or slices

salt and pepper to taste

3 rashers of smoked bacon sliced and diced

Method

1. Put the olive oil in a pan and sweat the onions, leeks, garlic and bacon on a medium heat for 10 minutes

2. Add beans, corn, and cauliflower and sweat for 10 minutes

3. Add the jar of tomato puree, pasta and stock and cook for 20 minutes until all the ingredients are cooked and soft

4. Add salt and pepper to taste

Variations

Garnish with Parmesan cheese or a local grated cheese and fresh basil

Add 1 chilli at stage one for a Spicey Minestrone Soup
Thanks for reading and enjoy, Crazycupcakes

Chickpea and Kabanos Soup

I have now been posting new soup recipes for a year and it is good to look back on all the ones I have made. I have learnt so much about vegetables and flavours. This recipe for Chickpea and Kabanos Soup is a good one for Autumn and has lots of carbohydrates to give that real satisfied feeling inside.

Ingredients

6 shallots or 2 large onions, diced

olive oil for frying and sweating the vegetables

6 cloves of garlic chopped finely

14 large tomatoes, skinned and deseeded and pushed through a sieve to get a puree. You can always use a 1 jar of ready made tomato puree.

1 courgette or zucchini diced

4 medium potatoes finely diced

1 egg plant or aubergine diced

2 tins of ready cooked chickpeas, drained and washed in water

1 1/2 to 2 pints of stock either homemade or from a cube( chicken,vegan or vegetarian)

3 kabanos diced if you cannot get these use garlic sausage

6 sprigs of fresh marjoram to garnish

salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Remove skins and seeds from tomatoes, do this by placing tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for about 1 minute and then prepare

2. Put the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat

3. Sweat the onions or shallots with the garlic in a large pan for about 5 minutes, until soft.

4. Add the aubergine,courgette and potato, sweat with the onions for 10 minutes

5. Add the stock

6. Add the homemade tomato puree or a jar of ready made

7. Add the chickpeas

8. Add the marjoram

9. Add the Kabanos

10. Cook for about 15 minutes

11. Add salt and pepper to taste

12. Taste for flavour and texture. Cook longer if necessary.

13. Serve with some warm bread rolls and the fresh herb garnish

Variations

1. Omit the kabanos and add an extra tin of chickpeas for a vegetarian or vegan soup.

2. Serve with grated cheese.

3. Serve with a garnish of fresh herbs

4. Use different herbs such as Thyme, sage or dried mixed herbs

5. Change the sausage

6. Use butter beans, aduki beans, haricot beans and flageolot instead of chick peas

I hope you enjoy this hearty soup and thanks for reading

Crazycupcakes