You can’t beat a bowl of minestrone and I like to make some up for the Feast Day of St Francis of Assisi. As a child I was fond of St Francis and imagined him with a crowd of puppies at his feet, cats on his shoulders, circled by crows and butcher birds. I still visualise Francis, il Poverello, like this. It’s my father’s birthday too, so I never forget the date.
I have an earlier recipe for minestrone on the stove top accompanied by some lovely photos of La Chiesa di San Francesco d’Assisi, Palermo.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 7 hours |
| Servings | people |
- 1 medium onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 can tomatoes chopped
- 2 TBLspoons tomato paste
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 medium zucchinis chopped
- 3 stalks celery
- 1 cup kidney beans
- 1 cup cannellini beans
- 1 cup dry pasta
- 1 cup baby spinach
- handful basil leaves
- pinch thyme
- pinch oregano
- 2 bayleaves
- peccorino to serve
- parsely to serve
Ingredients
| |
- Place garlic, onions, carrot, celery basil, oregano, thyme, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and bay leaves to the slow cooker. Stir in stock (add water if necessary)
- Cover with lid and cook on high for 1 hour, then low for 5 hours.
- 40 minutes before serving, stir in zucchini, kidney beans, cannellini beans, spinach and pasta and cook on high heat for 1 hour.
- Turn off the cooker. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in shredded cheese and torn parsley. Serve.
Stock can be from a carton or this tasty prosciutto stock. Vegetable stock is good too.
You can use canned beans or dried. If using dried beans, cook and drain ahead of time and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
No peccorino? Substitute reggiano or parmesan.
If you're intending to freeze the leftover minestrone, remove the pasta with a slotted spoon, then freeze the remaining soup.
Served with crunchy bread, minestrone is a main meal
