Inge Wilken is a dance teacher and budding entrepreneur. This filling soup is a winter staple in her home that she shares with her husband, busy toddler and their cat, Bowie. She loves travelling and experimenting with new recipes.
By Inge WilkenServes 4 generously
Time allocation: 1 hour
Ingredients:
• 2 red onions, chopped and diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 Celery stick, chopped (no leaves)
• 1 French Leak
• 80g Bacon, chopped - (½ a pack) I used streaky, and pre-fried it.
• 1 bay leaf
• a few fresh sprigs of Thyme
• ½ a tin of Canned tomato mix - I used the Tomato and Garlic mix. • 1 Knorr Chicken stock pot. Mixed with 800ml boiling water.
• 2 handfulls of your choice of pasta, I used mini pasta shells.
• 1 tin of Borlotti Beans (drained)
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper for seasoning
• Croutons & Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Method:
• Chop and dice all your igredients to the desired size. Minestrone is meant to be chunky. We do not recommend blending this recipe.
• Fry the onion, carrots, leak and celery in a large/medium pot. 6-8 mins
• Add Thyme, bay leaf and bacon and simmer on high for 2 mins
• Add tomato mix and stock water, simmer for 2 mins.
• Add Borlotti beans and season with salt and pepper.
• Add pasta and cook for a further 10 mins on a low/medium heat.
• Continue to stir to mix all the flavours
- Serve in soup bowls with croutons and grated paremesan spinkled on top.
• Serve with warm knotted buns on the side.
• Should you wish for a thicker soup, use less stock mix ±600ml and chunkier vegetables.
