Minestrone (The Big Soup)
I’ve held off making this soup for an age. Mainly because the traditional Irish vegetable soup ticks all the boxes and that’s what I’d normally go with. Today I fancied something different, so here it is.
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp of sea salt crystals
- a large pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 red onions
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 carrots
- 2 sticks of celery
- ¼ red pepper
- ¼ orange pepper
- ¼ yellow pepper
- 2 closed cup mushrooms
- 50g soup broth
- 25g red lentils
- 100g pasta (any type)
- ½ tsp pimento powder
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp of mushroom ketchup (optional)
- 1 tsp of vegetable stock powder
- 1 can/carton of chopped tomatoes
- 1.5 litres of boiling water
Method
Place a large saucepan (at least 3l capacity) over a medium heat and add the olive oil, salt and pepper. Chop the onions roughly, crush the garlic and add to the pan. Dice the carrots, celery, peppers and mushrooms and add to the pan once the onion has softened. Next, add the soup broth, lentils and pasta followed by the spices, balsamic (mushroom ketchup, if using) and vegetable stock. Stir well and add the tomatoes.
Once the tomatoes start to bubble, add the water 500ml at a time allowing to come to a simmer between adding each batch. Cover and allow to boil for 15 minutes before reducing the heat to simmer for a further hour and a half or until the soup thickens and the soup broth pulses soften. Add small amounts of water during cooking, if needed.
