Minstrone Soup

My sister shared her minstrone soup receipe that she referred to be as a knock-off of the Olive Garden’s. She learnt it herself after craving and quenching it at that place during her pregnency last year and like a typical girl she challenged herself to make a better version of it. We had this soup on one of the chilly cold mornings and honestly, it was so yummy that I took a second helping.

This is a basic but lovely vegetable soup – it’s jam-packed fully of goodness and will do anyone who eats it the world of good! You can either keep it hearty and chunky or you can cook the soup without the pasta in it, whiz it up in a blender, pour it back in the saucepan with some pasta and cook until the pasta is soft. Delicious!

Method

• Heat a large pot over a medium heat and add black eyed peas, chick peas and kidney beans. Add 1 bowl of macroni pasta, chopped – baby spinach, carrots, tomato, green beans, brocolli sugar snap peas and lots of celery.  Add only 2 herbs to it – basil and oregano.
• Add now chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chilly flakes and salt. Then cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. This soup needs to be cooked really slowly at its pace.
• Finish by seasoning with cheddar chesse (This was her secret ingredient) and black pepper.  

 

I’ll never forget the intense gratification I felt when I tasted the finished product of what seemingly took forever to prepare.