Sunday 10 February 2013

Bite Of The Week

I'm doing things sightly differently this week. Due to a nice dose of man flu, crossed with something else disgusting, I have basically been living off of soup. (I paint quite a picture, I'm sure.) This means, I've hardly left the house. Sad times.

Whenever I feel a bit crap, I turn to vegetable soup and there has been a recipe that has been floating around for years, which came from my Mum. Every time I visit Malta (the family are from there) I make sure I get my hands on some Minstra, so Mum's original recipe has been twisted/added/removed from based on the bits I like from my travels. (Just take a moment.....)


** Please note, Mama Renda's soup is top notch as it is**

You will need:

Glug of olive oil - about a dessert spoonful.
1 small onion - finely chopped.
1-2 garlic cloves (2 smalish ones if you're a garlic fiend like me)  - peeled, sliced or left whole.
Fresh red chilli (This bit is your call, but I go for 1 whole one) - finely sliced.
1 teaspoon of oregano - I normally use dried, but fresh is even better.
2 cubes of vegetable stock, or fresh vegetable stock if you have it.
Tomato paste (a couple of squeezes!)
1 x tin of good quality tomatoes (optional, Minestra isn't traditionally very tomatoey so it's up to you if you want to add these.)
1 x courgette
1 quarter of a cauliflower.
2 x sticks of celery.
250g of butternut squash.
250g of turnip.
2 x carrots.
1-2 small potatoes.
4 savoy cabbage leaves - chopped.
Half a can of beans - butter or kidney are my preference.
Handful of rice or conchigliette.

(I haven't indicated how the vegetables should be cut as Minestra normally has vegetables that are cut very finely or down to a small size, I prefer mine a bit more chunky, so it's up to you!)







Method:

Put a large soup pan on a low to medium heat, add the olive oil, onion, garlic and chilli and let that cook away for a few minutes.

Add all of your vegetables except the cabbage, cauliflower and potato and allow them to sweat for 5-8 minutes.

Next, drop in your stock cubes and your oregano and coat the vegetables. (Some freshly ground black pepper popped in here too.)

Then fill the pan as close to the top as you can (but with room to allow it to boil) with water. Bring to the boil and then add tomato paste (a couple of squeezes) and your tinned tomatoes (if you want it a bit more tomatoey!) Let this simmer for another 30-40 minutes.

Then add your beans, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes and rice or pasta and give it another 10-15 minutes.

I then normally turn it off and leave it stand over night in the fridge. The next day, you can boil it up and add more vegetable stock or tomato paste or whatever it feels a bit light on.

I serve mine with ciabatta (or Maltese bread if you're lucky enough to have some!) and pop some freshly ground black pepper on top, a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and fresh parmesan.











1 comment:

  1. That looks like the perfect medicine for any cold/flu related illness! Love the Jesus picture!

    ReplyDelete