Re: Minestrone > Nic

[Guest guest]

Thanks lovie... I am going to whip this up tomorrow morning. Can you use rice instead of pasta do you think?

Mel

>> > Hiya Mel> > I haven't made Minestrone this year, but I always made it like this:> > 1 Onion finely diced> > 2 carrots & 1 stick of celery chopped into smallish cubes> > 1 zucchini cut into half moons> > A cup of beans chopped into smallish pieces (they can go grey tho with> subsequent reheating)> > 1 clove of garlic, crushed> > 1 tin of chopped tomatoes with juice> > 500 ml of chicken or vege stock> > 1 can of cannellini or borlotti beans drained and rinsed> > Some chopped speck or bacon (whatever I had to hand)> > 500g of rissoni or small pasta> > Olive oil> > Cook off the speck in some olive oil, then add the garlic and> vegetables, except the beans and allow to soften stirring for about 10> minutes. Add the stock, tinned tomatoes bring to boil and allow to> simmer for about 10 minutes, you might add a bit more liquid, check the> flavour if you think it needs more stock, mix that in or just add hot> water. Check if you want to add any seasoning after that. Add the> pasta and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is> almost ready, then add the beans so that they just heat thru. Taste it> again for the pasta, if it is cooked and the beans are heated thru then> it is ready. Add some fresh olive oil and parmesan to serve.> > I used to make these into batches and freeze them; it was great to take> to work. You can make it thicker if you want something a little more> hearty. You can also change the vegetables to what you have on hand,> like potatoes, peas and leeks for example. You can also double the> quantities easily and add the two different types of beans for variety. > It's also nice with some cubed up sourdough mixed into it.>