Minestrone

Serves 8



Ingredients

• 300g dried Italian beans (such as borlotti and cannellini beans)
• 100g pancetta or bacon
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs finely chopped rosemary
• 2 celery sticks, finely diced
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled, finely diced
• 2 tbs tomato puree
• 700ml tomato passata
• 750ml (3 cups) beef or vegetable stock
• 150g short macaroni
• 150g frozen or fresh peas
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 2 tbs pesto, plus extra to serve
• Parmesan shavings, to serve

Method

1. Place the beans in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Leave in a cool place to soak overnight. The next day, drain the beans and rinse well under cold running water. Set aside to drain.
2. Remove the rind from the pancetta then cut into small dice. Cut the onion and garlic into similar small dice (this mixture is known as sofrito and is the base of many flavoursome Italian dishes).
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or stock pot. Add the sofrito and rosemary and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until everything has started to soften.
4. Add celery, carrot, potato and tomato puree and cook, stirring, for a few minutes (this removes the raw taste of the tomato puree). Add beans, passata and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours. (Check occasionally; if soup is looking too thick, top up with stock or water.)
5. Add the pasta, peas and cabbage (the soup needs to be quite liquid as the pasta will thicken it as it cooks. Add more liquid if required). Simmer, uncovered, for a further 15 minutes. Season the soup well with salt and pepper, then stir in the pesto. Serve in bowls topped with extra pesto and shavings of parmesan.

ProPoints - 6pts per serve