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20221129_123532

Winter Minestrone Soup

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Last week, we received a fantastic donation of fresh vegetables grown in the Believe Housing‘s community garden, comprising of baby carrots, celery, various chard, golden beetroot and lettuce. I hoped to showcase these (or at least, most of them)  in a recipe…to be beaten to it by my eldest daughter, Talia!

 

Chard is often overlooked because of its strong flavour, but it brings depth as well as being super nutritious. Using seasonal veg, grown in this country, or better still, from local allotments or gardens, keeps costs low as well as meaning the dish has less of a carbon footprint, i.e. better for the environment.

Soup is one of those dishes that measurements do not have to be specific; as this was a case of using what we had, I had to go back and check what and how much of each ingredient Talia used to create this recipe to share.

I hope you enjoy, I certainly did (it is lovely to sometimes eat someone else’s food!)

WINTER MINESTRONE SOUP

Joanne Iceton
A warming soup using seasonal veg
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Soup
Servings 4

Equipment

  • chopping board or use a plate
  • Sharp knife
  • Large lidded pan
  • Measuring jug

Ingredients
  

Soup

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 4 medium carrots chopped
  • 4 celery sticks chopped
  • 1 small swede (or turnip if from 'up North!') about 200g, scrubbed and chopped (only peel if large)
  • 1 garlic clove crushed (or use 1 tsp garlic paste)
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano optional
  • 400 g can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 litre hot vegetable stock
  • 1 large handful small pasta shapes e.g. orzo or even broken spaghetti
  • 400 g can butter beans or cannellini beans
  • 200 g chard leaves (or leafy greens) chopped, including stalks

To finish

  • parmesan cheese grated, optional (you can also use a mature cheddar)
  • Crusty bread

Instructions
 

  • Prepare all of the vegetables.
  • Add the oil to a large pan and heat. Stir in the onion, carrots, celery and swede, turn the heat to medium then cover, stirring every now and then. Cook until softened slightly without colouring (about 10 - 15 mins).
  • Stir in the garlic, oregano (if using) and chopped chard stalks, stirring to coat all of the vegetables. Pour in the can of tomatoes, half fill the can with water, swill to get the tomato residue and add this. Pour in the stock and pasta, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to simmer the soup.
  • After simmering for 10 mins, stir through the chard leaves and butter beans and cook for a further 5 mins.
  • Serve finished with a grating of parmesan, if wished and crusty bread.

Notes

Our website automatically adds my name as the author, and although I wrote this up, I can't claim this as my own, so all credit goes to my daughter and one of our directors; Talia Iceton. 
Keyword seasonal vegetables, soup

The recipes are free to everyone to use (please give credits to us if you choose to use them), and always will be, but our non-profit organisation incurs many costs to keep it running. If you would like to help keep it going, please consider giving a donation. If you feel inspired to try more, why not invest in our Recipe Collection, available online or from our Eco Market. 

Thank you

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Nutritional Benefits:

This soup contains six different vegetables (pulses like butter beans are classed as one of your five a day) that offer benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, may help to reduce the risk of certain cancers, may help to boost immunity, may help to reduce heart disease, regulates insulin levels, promotes good digestion and much more.

Chard contains the antioxidant  proanthocyanidins, which is excellent for circulation and heart health. It also contains folate and vitamin C which help to promote the regrowth of cells, calcium and magnesium help to promote heart and bone health and vitamin K, which helps to make various proteins that are needed for blood clotting and the building of bones.

BACK OF THE FRIDGE SOUP

Back of the Fridge Soup

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There is a common theme to many of the recipes I create, that is to reduce waste. This is for good reason when 8 – 10% of greenhouse gas emissions come from waste food. This may not sound much but when 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally a year, it amounts to a lot. So my reckoning is, if we all do a little bit where we can, cherish that food, appreciate the time, energy, water and work that has gone into producing it, then we might just help to slow down climate change (notice the inspirational book from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall!)

So this recipe is what I call ‘Back of the Fridge Soup’ as it does use up what you have. So if you don’t have the vegetables and tins I’ve used here, use what you have. Just make the veg content up to 1.2kg, use a tin of chickpeas, cannellini beans, kidney beans or even baked beans! The tomato sauce will add an extra depth of flavour!

I added a roasted red pepper as it is what I had left over and I wanted to add a splash of colour. Feel free to omit it or use a fresh red pepper added at the same time as the courgettes.

Give it a try!

BACK OF THE FRIDGE SOUP

Joanne Iceton
A soup to warm the soul
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Soup
Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil or use a basic olive or vegetable oil
  • 1 large leek sliced
  • 2 large carrots chopped (don't peel)
  • 4 celery sticks chopped
  • 2 medium parsnips chopped (don't peel)
  • 2 medium courgettes chopped
  • 1.5 litres vegetable stock
  • 1 can butter beans keep the liquid to use as additional stock
  • 1 can pearl barley drained, you can also used a good handful dried (see below) or just leave out
  • 1 roasted red pepper optional

Instructions
 

  • Wash and prepare all of the vegetables
  • Add the oil to a large lidded pan, heat on medium then add the leeks, carrots, celery and parsnips. Cook covered until they start to soften but don't allow to brown. If they do start to turn colour, add a splash of water.
  • Add the vegetable stock, courgettes, beans with the water from the can (this also helps to thicken due to the starch content) and drained pearl barley or dried.
  • Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 10 mins until all veg is cooked then stir through the red pepper (optional). If using dried barley, you will need to simmer for about 30 mins to cook them
  • Serve with crusty bread warmed in the oven.
Keyword soup, vegetables

The recipes are free to everyone to use (please give credits to us if you choose to use them), and always will be, but our non-profit organisation incurs many costs to keep it running. If you would like to help keep it going, please consider giving a donation. If you feel inspired to try more, why not invest in our Recipe Collection, available online or from our Eco Market. 

Thank you

Card Donations PayPal Donations

Nutritional Benefits:

This soup contains six different vegetables (pulses like butter beans are classed as one of your five a day) that offer benefits such as being anti-inflammatory, may help to reduce the risk of certain cancers, may help to boost immunity, may help to reduce heart disease, regulates insulin levels, promotes good digestion and much more.