The weather’s getting colder, the days darker, and lockdown is here to ruin any autumnal/early Christmas spirit you might have had. What better way to cheer yourself up by making a wholesome, nutritious, and warming soup!
I’ve always had a strange relationship with soups. I’ve only ever been a fan of ones which have been puréed beyond recognition, and growing up, a staple soup in my family was my dad’s minestrone: the texture of which is a clear broth with various vegetables floating in it – so while delicious, not exactly my cup of tea.
However, I’m well aware of how good it is for me, on top of that I’ve been missing my family quite a bit with the recent lockdown, and decided it might be time for me to try my hand at soup making. So I went off to the market and returned with bags full of veggies, ready for this endeavour.
Ingredients:
- 2 small onions
- 3 sticks of celery
- 3 large carrots
- 2 large potatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Italian herbs
- 1 large cup vegetable stock (roughly 500ml)
- 1 tin of cannellini beans
- 1 tin of tomatoes
- Chilli flakes (optional)
Method:
- Finely dice the onions, celery, carrots, potatoes, and garlic. In a large frying pan, heat about a tablespoon of the olive oil, over medium-high heat, then add the onion.
- Once the onion is looking translucent, add the celery and carrots, turn down to medium heat and let cook for a few minutes.
- Add the garlic, potatoes, and herbs.
- If using a slow cooker (which I did), turn it up to high, tip the contents of the frying pan in, and add the tomatoes, beans, and a large cup of vegetable stock. Add the optional chilli flakes and leave for about four hours.
- If you don’t have a slow cooker, once the veg has fried lightly for a few minutes, and the carrots and celery are beginning to look tender, add the tomatoes, beans, and vegetable stock (again with the optional chilli flakes) and simmer for about half an hour – until some of the water has evaporated and all the veg and beans are fully cooked through.
- Serve as is, or if you want to be fancy add some grated parmesan, fresh basil, and some pepper. I would strongly recommend having some good quality bread to eat with it, enjoy!