Italian inspired vegan minestrone soup

Minestrone is a classic hearty vegetable stew. This version contains orzo and cannelini beans and is completely vegan! This is the perfect fridge raid recipe, perfect for using ingredients you already have in your cupboards and fridge! Olive garden

Minestrone is a wonderful flavourful thick vegetable soup full of goodness originating from Italy. It’s the perfect fridge raid recipe perfect when you have veg laying about in your fridge that you have no plans for, think half used bell pepper, some tired old carrots just throw them in and add some nutrients to your dinner and avoid food waste! You can use any vegetables in this soup it is very versatile and also adaptable to contain the vegetables you love. I use cannellini beans and orzo in this version these add some carbs and protein to make this a complete meal. Minestrone is one of the quickest and easiest meals to make making it a suitable healthy meal for any beginner cook. Serve topped with parmesan cheese and alongside some crusty ciabatta for the perfect comfort food that will also give you a nutrient boost.

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Ingredients and substitutes-

• Vegetables- A good soup base should always be onions and garlic. Everything else is interchangeable according to what you have left over in your fridge- chuck it all in but be mindful of cooking times of each vegetable as we don’t want some mushy and some rock hard vegetables!

• Orzo- Minestrone often contains some sort of pasta in this recipe I use orzo because I feel like it’s the perfect size pasta and that’s what I had available at the time. The starches off of the pasta help to thicken the soup. You can use any pasta you have available, if you only have big pasta break it up smaller this is a great recipe for using up what you already have.

• Cannellini beans- Another feature of a minestrone is a good bean beans work well to bulk up the soup and add a protein boost. I use cannellini as they are a nice size- similar to the size of the rest of the ingredients. You can however use any other bean you have available or omit all together if you’re not a bean fan.

• Tinned tomatoes- This recipe uses tinned tomatoes, you may fresh but perhaps add some tomato puree in too to ensure that richness that tinned tomatoes provide.

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Top Tips!

Pasta-

If you don’t have any small pasta you could blitz big pasta in a food processor until it reaches the size of orzo grains. It will still have the same effect it will just be mor irregular in size.

Vegetable cooking time-

To ensure no mushy or rock had vegetables make sure you add each one at the appropriate times to ensure they’re cooked to your liking. For example, carrots are harder so should go in first and bell peppers are softer so would be best put in a little later.

And now for the recipe!

Orzo minestrone soup

​Serves- 2 Time- 30 minutes

Ingredients-

• 1 onion

• 1 tbsp butter

• 4 carrots

• 1 courgette

• ½ bell pepper

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 tbsp mixed Italian herbs

• 1 tsp Salt

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 2 bay leaves

• 400ml water

• 400g tin cannellini beans

• 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 125g dry orzo

• Parmesan to top

Method-

1. Start by dicing up the onion and fry off in some butter in a big saucepan until translucent. Mince or chop the garlic finely and add to the onion.

2. I like a chunky soup so I chop up my veg roughly and add that to the onion and garlic being mindful of cooking times of the different veg.

3. Next add in the mixed herbs, the bay leaves, salt and the whole tin of tomatoes, stir well to combine.

4. Now fill the tomato tin with water and add that in to the pan with the veg and lastly add in the vegetable stock cube and put the lid on and simmer until the veg has partly softened.

5. Once the veg is half cooked add in the orzo and the cannellini beans and put the lid back on.

6. Simmer once more until the orzo is cooked this is best served al dente but cook to your preference.

7. Season well before serving topped with some parmesan cheese and dipping in some ciabatta.

8. Enjoy!

FAQ-

·         Can I add more protein?- Traditionally minestrone is vegetarian however feel free to add protein I would recommend to cook separately and add last minute to ensure the flavours are not boiled out. I would probably add vegan sausage to this if anything.

·         Is this soup healthy?- Yes, there is only vegetables, beans and orzo plus seasonings. This soup is often cooked up when someone is feeling under the weather as its warming and packed full of goodness. You could make this whole food plant based/unprocessed by taking out the pasta and the stock cubes however this will compromise the flavour and consistency of the soup.

Why not try these other delicious recipes?

• Butter bean curry

• Cauliflower cheese soup

• Vegan butter cauliflower curry

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