Winter Minestrone Soup
Written by: Rachel Phipps
This simple Winter Minestrone-style soup is easy customisable, and makes the most of seasonal produce. Leeks, butternut squash (easily substituted for another pumpkin or squash), and cavolo nero (again you can also try kale and spinach) are our vegetable stars, and lumache rigate shapes add that essential pasta element. We’ve also added half a jar of Bold Bean Co.’s British carlin peas which work their way pleasingly into the middle of the pasta shapes, but any other jarred bean or pulse can also be substituted.
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large lidded saucepan or casserole dish over a medium high heat. Soften the leeks with a generous pinch of salt, then stir in the garlic. Cook for a few more minutes until the garlic is soft.
Stir in the squash, whole sage sprig, and the vegetable stock. Fill the jar from the stock with water, and add that too. Season with pepper and a little more salt, and raise the heat to bring the soup to the boil. Then, reduce the heat to medium and simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes.
Stir in the pasta, and return the lid to cook for a further 15 minutes. Then, add the carlin peas and the cavolo nero, cooking for a final 5 minutes.
Check the seasoning before serving in warm bowls topped with chopped parsley and plenty of parmesan.
If you want to use a stock cube instead, use 1/2 a Kallo vegetable stock cube to make up 1 litre of stock, and add the rind of the parmesan to the pot during cooking. However, note that will make the soup no longer suitable for vegetarians!
Ingredients
Available in store
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large leek, trimmed and sliced
- sea salt
- 2 large garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 sprig sage
- 200g diced butternut squash
- 500ml vegetable stock + 500ml water
- cracked black pepper
- 100g lumache rigate
- 1/2 jar Bold Bean Co Carlin Peas, rinsed and drained
- approx. 60g chopped cavolo nero
- flat leaf parsley, to serve