Nourishing Minestrone

Well the weather has finally turned very cold, its been about 2 degrees outside this weekend. Which means its soup seaon, in honour of which I made a delicious pot of minestrone for our lunches this week, this soup is like liquid vitamins my friends and is totally delicious but involves a lot of prep! The day before you have to soak your cannellini beans and chickpeas then its a mammoth chopping task which for someone like myself who has Fibro and a repetitive strain injury from teaching ICT in ill equipped schools, is difficult. Luckily I have a willing helper in my 7 yr old daughter. She has her own peeler and knife for chopping. Whilst I have taught her how to use a knife properly its better for my stress levels if she uses her special knife, which I bought from Amazon. I know I buy way too much from them and I am aware of how crappy they treat their workers but its so easy for me especially when I do not have any energy to visit shops to just order online!  Anyhoo back to the soup, so once you have chopped all the veg, you then assemble the soup and let it simmer for 2 hours, I also add bone broth from the freezer as well. After which you serve it with crusty bread and grated cheese, yummy!!!

The recipe that I use in case you would like to try it is posted below:

·         1 cup of dried chickpeas (soak overnight)

·         1 cup of dried cannelini beans(soak overnight)

·         7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

·         1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped 

·         2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped 

·         2 medium celery stalks, chopped 

·         5 cloves of crushed garlic.

·         1 can chopped tomatoes 

·         3 medium  potatoes, peeled and diced (about 1½ cups)

·         1½ cups chopped fennel

·         1.5 tblsp of mixed herbs or oregano

·         2⁄3 cup of Orzo or you could snap normal spaghetti into small pieces

·         season well with salt and pepper

·         ¼ cup finely grated pecorino Romano or mature cheddar

·        4 heaped tsp of veg Bouillon with 2 cups of hot water
1 ladle of bone broth

To cook the soup you will need a large stove top casserole pot or pan. Add the oil to the pan and bring it to heat then fry your onions and garlic for 5 mins, then add the carrots and celery. cook for another 5 mins on low. Next add in the tinned toms, the veg bouillon, bone broth,potatoes, fennel and herbs add in the chickpeas and beans and stir, season . now let it cook for 2 hours on simmer. Finally add the pasta for 15 mins and enjoy with the grated cheese and a chunk of bread.


Here is a link to the knife that my kiddo uses:
Kuhn Rikon Knife