Minestrone

Name: Minestrone
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 3 h 15 min
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 150 g/5½ oz thin green beans, finely chopped; 150 g/5½ oz courgettes, diced; 800 ml/28 fl oz/scant 3½ cups Vegetable Stock, ready-made stock or water, boiling, plus extra if needed; 2 bay leaves, tied together with several rosemary and thyme sprigs; 1 recipe quantity Pesto Sauce or 4 tbsp ready-made fresh pesto, to serve; 150 ml/5 fl oz/scant 2/3 cup passata; 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 celery stick, finely chopped; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 leek, halved lengthways, thinly sliced and rinsed; freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve; 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve; ½ tsp caster sugar; 55 g/2 oz dried angel hair pasta, broken up; 4 large tomatoes; 200 g/7 oz/1 cup dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water for at least 8 hours; 1 carrot, diced

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
4 hr

Appears in

I Love My Slow Cooker

By Beverly LeBlanc

Published 2012

About

This soup is full of fresh Mediterranean flavours. You can make it in advance and reheat it, but only add the thin pasta pieces just before serving – they become overcooked and mushy if left to sit too long in the hot broth.

Ingredients

200 g/7 oz/1 cup dried cannellini beans, soaked in cold water for at least 8 hours

Europe
Italy
Mediterranean
Soup
Vegetarian

Method

Bring a large, covered saucepan of unsalted water to the boil. Drain the beans and add them to the pan. Return to the boil and boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse the beans, then transfer them to the slow cooker.

Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the tomatoes and pasta, and season with pepper. Add extra stock to cover the beans, if necessary.

Cover the coo