Easy Minestrone Soup
Make this super easy Minestrone Soup in just 30 minutes. The soup reheats well, so is a quick meal to make in advance, and as an added bonus it can also be frozen.
Servings: 4
Calories: 773kcal
Ingredients
- 6 rashers bacon chopped
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion sliced
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 large celery stick chopped
- 1 L (4 cups) chicken stock
- 400 g (14 oz) tin plum tomatoes
- 400 g (14 oz) tin cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 120 g (1 cup) pasta approx. 3 handfuls
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt & Pepper
- Grated Parmesan and bread to serve
Instructions
- In a large pot, gently fry the bacon until the fat starts to render.
- Add the olive oil and onion. Fry the onion until it starts to soften.
- Add the garlic, carrot and celery.
- Continue to fry until the vegetables start to soften.
- Add the chicken stock and bay leaf.
- Bring the stock to the boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the beans, tomatoes and pasta.
- Crush the tomatoes into the soup with the back of a spoon.
- Continue to simmer until the pasta is cooked.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve in warm bowls with grated Parmesan.
Notes
- If your bacon rashers are large then use three instead of the six specified above.
- Use a small pasta shape. They swell to the same size as the cut vegetables, and are easy to pick up with a soup spoon.
- Use the pasta quantity as a guide. Just consider that the more pasta you add, the less liquid there will be in the final dish.
- The soup will thicken on standing.
- Leftovers will last in the fridge for up to three days.
- Serve the soup in warm bowls with grated Parmesan to sprinkle over.