Читать книгу Home Made: Good, honest food made easy - Tana Ramsay - Страница 14

This is a really hearty minestrone without the predictable tomato offering, which keeps it looking fresh. The slight crunch of chickpeas gives it a little more bite.

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

120g pack of prosciutto (or pancetta), cut into chunks

2 sticks of celery, cut into 5mm/¹/₄ inch slices

400g tin each of cannellini beans and chickpeas, drained through a sieve and then rinsed

3 bay leaves

750ml/1¹/₄ pints chicken stock

125g/4oz dried spaghetti

3 baby courgettes, cut into 5mm/¹/₄ inch slices

100g/3¹/₂oz green beans

125g/4oz fine asparagus

1 large handful of spinach, washed

fresh basil, roughly torn

salt and black pepper

freshly grated Parmesan cheese to serve

Serves: 4-6

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

1 Heat the oil in a large pan on a low-medium heat, then gently fry the onions, garlic and prosciutto (or pancetta) for 8-10 minutes, until softened. Add the celery along with salt and a good helping of pepper – go easy on the salt as the prosciutto is salty. Add the cannellini beans, chickpeas, bay leaves and stock and bring to the boil. At this point you can leave the base of your soup to simmer for 5 minutes, or leave it to cool and continue later, reheating it before adding the remaining ingredients.

2 You can buy minestrone pasta but it is slightly more old fashioned. Place the spaghetti in the centre of a thin, clean tea towel and roll it up like a cigar/Christmas cracker, nice and tightly. Place the tip of the roll at the edge of the table, push against the table and pull down. This breaks the pasta up beautifully, slightly uneven but perfect for a rustic soup.

3 As soon as you add the pasta and other vegetables to the soup, you need to be careful of your timings so as not to overcook – the soup is so much nicer with slightly crunchy veg and al dente pasta. Add the pasta, courgettes, green beans and asparagus to the soup and simmer for about 8 minutes, until the veg are ready and the pasta al dente. Lastly, add the spinach and cook for 1 minute or so, until wilted. Adjust the seasoning and top with a handful of basil.

4 To serve, ladle into large warm bowls and sprinkle some Parmesan over the top. Alternatively, add a teaspoon of pesto (see page 214) per serving.