Categories: February, soup

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus 100ml
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 2 celery sticks, diced
• 3 large garlic cloves, crushed, plus 1 roughly chopped
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 2 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 1 leek, sliced and washed
• 1.2 litres vegetable stock, hot
• 400g can plum tomatoes in natural juice, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 410g can borlotti or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• freshly grated Parmesan, to serve (optional)
• 40g fresh flatleaf parsley
• dash of red or white wine vinegar

Directions

1. Put 3 tbsp oil in a large pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, crushed garlic, thyme and rosemary and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Season well.

2. Add the sliced leeks to the pan and mix it all together. Sauté for a further 5 minutes, until the leeks have softened.

3. Add the hot stock to the pan, making sure there’s enough to cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer gently for 30 minutes.

4. Stir in the tomatoes and their juice, along with the tomato purée and beans. Simmer for a further 10 minutes, until the beans are heated through and all the vegetables are tender. Discard the herb stalks and season to taste.

5. Meanwhile, make the salsa verde. Put the parsley, vinegar and remaining garlic into a food processor and whizz until finely chopped. Pour in the remaining olive oil and whizz again. Season to taste. Tip into a bowl and cover until needed.

6. Divide the minestrone between 6 bowls. Top each with a spoonful of salsa verde, then swirl into the soup with lots of fresh grated Parmesan, if you like.

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