Build your own minestrone soup

Who binged watched the Netflix show on the Blue Zones?! Blue Zones are areas in the world with the greatest number of centenarians (people living to a 100 or more) I was glad to see that in all the blue zones including Sardinia, complex carbohydrates were enjoyed in abundance and a secret to their longevity.

This minestrone soup is inspired by Sardinia in Italy, and you can use any wholewheat pasta. I don’t like the pasta falling apart when you warm it up and

hence, I like building the “bowls” separately.

You can make just enough pasta for that day’s servings and boil some more the next day

for the leftovers.

Again, I don’t do things in half, and this serves 6-8 people depending how hungry you are. The soup can be divided into portions and frozen for later use.

Ingredients

1 cup wholewheat pasta

1 onion finely diced.

6 cloves garlic crushed.

2 carrots diced.

2 celery stalks diced.

1 courgette diced.

1 bell pepper diced- I prefer any colour but green, but that’s my preference!

400g tin chopped tomatoes.

6 cups vegetable stock

2 tsps. dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsps. smoked paprika.

1 bay leaf

4 tbsps. nutritional yeast

1 cup kidney beans from a can (drained and rinsed)

1 cup cannellini or butter beans from a can (drained and rinsed)

1 cup chopped spinach OR 4 cubes frozen spinach defrosted.

Salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste

Method

1. Cook the pasta till al dente as per packet instructions, drain and set aside.

2. Heat a large nonstick pot over medium heat and when hot add the onions, carrot and celery and cook till soft, adding small amounts of stock to prevent sticking.

3. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute to release the flavours.

4. Add the courgette and cook for about 5-7 minutes until they start to soften (add a small amount of vegetable stock to prevent sticking)

5. Add the diced tomatoes, bay leaf, rest of the vegetable stock, oregano, basil, thyme, paprika and nutritional yeast and cover with a lid and simmer on low heat for 20-25 minutes to allow the tomatoes to soften.

6. Uncover the pan and add the beans, spinach and bell pepper and allow to cook for 5 minutes.

7. Season with salt and pepper and chilli flakes.

8. Serve each person with a bowl of pasta and pour the soup over and enjoy with sourdough wholewheat bread or gluten free bread!