Anna's Minestrone Soup

Lunch or dinner, a good bowl of soup is always a pleasure in winter. The best thing about minestrone is that it’s one of those soups that will use up any lurking lonely vegetables at the back of the fridge or the cupboard.

As far as I’m concerned, as long as I have some bits of bacon in the freezer, I have all the ingredients I need. With the bacon as a smoky base you can add anything you like. For those with pent up aggression, one of the highlights of making minestrone will be bashing up odd bits of pasta. In your lust to smash don’t forget to put everything in a bag first as shards will skitter across the kitchen and lie in wait for a bare foot to tread on them...

Plus, minestrone’s pretty low fat if you stop to think about it. Apart from the glug of oil and a bit of bacon, there’s no cream or butter involved, which is always a plus if you’re planning to look nice at a Christmas party. And if you don’t get an invite… well, get back to your pasta bashing.

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped clove of garlic
• Pack of smoked bacon lardons/ a few rashers of bacon chopped up
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2-3 potatoes
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 pint stock (made up from a cube)
• 1 dessertspoon tomato puree
• 1 can butterbeans
• 50g/ a handful of odd bits of pasta

Method:

1) In a large pan fry the onions, garlic and bacon bits in a glug of olive oil until the onions turn soft and translucent. To prevent waste, I keep bacon pieces in the freezer and just break them up a bit before adding to the pan.

2) As the onion mix cooks, chop your celery, potatoes and carrots into soup-sized chunks.

3) Put the vegetables in the pan with the onions, then pour over the chopped tomatoes and the stock. Finally, stir in the tomato puree.

4) Bring the mixture to a boil, then cover with a lid and reduce to a low bubble for 15 minutes.

5) Stir in the butterbeans and then simmer for another 15-20 minutes. You don’t want the ingredients to turn to mush, this soup should be nice and chunky. Test a piece of carrot or potato to check they’re done and the soup’s ready. Take it off the heat.

6) As you wait for the soup to cook get your dried pasta pieces and pour them in a bag. I usually use a sandwich bag but as long as you don’t use a bin liner, you’d be safe using any kind. Using a rolling pin or any blunt instrument that’s close to hand, smash the pasta into pieces. Don’t get carried away though or you’ll end up with pasta dust.

7) Then, in a pan of boiling water cook the pasta pieces for 7-10 minutes until done. Drain and stir into the soup.

You can serve the minestrone as it is, smothered in parmesan or drizzled with olive oil. Or out of the pan if you’re too hungry to bother with soupy etiquette.

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