Bean, Pasta and Vegetable Soup

Name: Bean, Pasta and Vegetable Soup
Ingredients: finely chopped herbs, such as basil, chives or parsley; finely chopped herbs, such as basil, chives or parsley; freshly ground black pepper; salt; 8 oz / 230 g dried beans or chick peas, soaked, cooked and drained; 8 oz / 230 g dried beans or chick peas, soaked, cooked and drained; finely chopped herbs, such as basil, chives or parsley; finely chopped herbs, such as basil, chives or parsley; 4 oz / 110 g green beans, broken into ½ in / 1 cm pieces; 2 courgettes, trimmed and thinly sliced; 6 oz / 170 g broken spaghetti or pasta shapes; 6 oz / 170 g broken spaghetti or pasta shapes; ¼ pt / 140 ml dry red or white wine (optional); ¼ pt / 140 ml dry red or white wine (optional); 12 oz / 340 g Savoy cabbage, finely shredded; 2 leeks, trimmed and finely sliced; 3 pt / 1.70 l turkey, duck, ham or vegetable stock; 3 pt / 1.70 l turkey, duck, ham or vegetable stock; 3 pt / 1.70 l turkey, duck, ham or vegetable stock; 3 pt / 1.70 l turkey, duck, ham or vegetable stock; 2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped; 1 tbsp tomato purée; 14 oz / 395 g can tomatoes; ¼ pt / 140 ml extra virgin olive oil; 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped; 1 celery stalk, trimmed and finely sliced

Preparation info

Serves
8

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Times Cookbook

By Frances Bissell

Published 1995

About

This is a particularly delicious and satisfying soup, which closely resembles Italian minestrone. It is a good way of using up cooked beans from another dish, but is also well worth making from scratch. If you use canned beans, they should be added only 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

Ingredients

¼ pt / 140 ml extra virgin olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

Soup

Method

Heat 3–4 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saucepan or flameproof casserole, and gently fry the onions, celery, carrots and garlic until soft. This will take 20–30 minutes, and is what gives the soup its underlying depth of flavour. Stir in the tomato purée, and cook until most of the liquid f