Simple Saturday: Piera’s Minestrone

This minestrone is simple to make, and so good for you. I brought my children up on this dish, so that they wouldn’t and couldn’t pick the vegetables out, because there where too many. Now they love it! Hope you and your family enjoy it to! 🙂

Piera’s Minestrone

Piera’s Minestrone

• 2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 celery sticks
• 2 carrots
• 100g of round beans
• 1/2 savoy cabbage
• 1 medium size potato
• 400g or 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 large courgette or two small ones
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 2 pints of hot boiled water
• Pepper for seasoning
• 400g tin of cannellini, borlotti or black beans

The above ingredients would serve 4 people.

How to make it

1. Prepare the vegetables – slice onion and cut into small pieces, slice or crush the garlic, peel the carrots and the potato, then rinse the carrots, potato, courgette, celery, cabbage, and round beans under running cold water.
2. Cut all the vegetables into small pieces.
3. Chop tomatoes.
4. Using a measuring jug, melt the stock cubes in 2 pints of hot boiled water.
5. In a medium to large saucepan, fry the chopped onion gently in the Extra Virgin Olive Oil for a few minutes until soft.
6. Then, add the garlic and give it a stir.
7. Add all the chopped vegetables, tomatoes and the 2 pints of stock.
8. Season with oregano and pepper.
9. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 45 to 60 minutes.

Depending on how hard the tin of beans are you may want to add them in half way through cooking, to make sure that they’re soft enough for you.