At the moment, my fridge looks like a tousled Mediterranean garden. Red and green Ramiro peppers are tumbling off the top shelf – a few are begging for attention. I have aubergines coming out of my ears, and as much as I adore Babaganoush (I’ve eaten a pot of it every week for the last month), I think I’ve had my fill for a bit. Then, there are paper bags full of courgettes. They don’t look too bad at the moment but the fragile critters tend to turn on you in an instant.
This scenario happens every summer. But, there’s a delicious way to deal with it: Minestrone. It’s such a brilliant soup as you can chuck just about anything into it and my favourite combination tends to include the veg I find the most difficult to shift when summer gluts flood in.
My version of the soup is more stew like – I love it thick and hearty. It’s basically a meal in a bowl. You don’t even need any bread with it.
Here’s how I make it, but create your own variation using up any bits and pieces that need your attention.
And, do let us know if you have any secrets on how to put to good use an overflow of summer veg. We’d love to hear what sort of ideas you have up your sleeve.
My Summer Saviour Minestrone
You can easily make this recipe vegan by omitting the sausage and Parmesan. You can also adapt it to the seasons – in the autumn swap the courgette and aubergine with autumnal pumpkin. You can add chestnuts. Swap the herbs for finely chopped kale or chard. The options are endless.
Fills 6-8 hearty-sized bowls. Freezes beautifully.
2 mugs of chicken or vegetable stock
1 big or a few small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
A hand or fistful of pasta – broken strands of spaghetti or small shells
2 large pork sausages (optional)
1 aubergine, finely diced
1 red or green pepper, deseeded and finely diced
1 onion, leek or a few spring onions, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large courgette, diced
1 tin chopped tomatoes or 2 handfuls of fresh tomatoes, diced
A good glug of balsamic vinegar
A splash of red wine (optional)
1 tin red kidney, butter or cannellini beans, drained
A good handful fresh herbs
A nugget Parmesan cheese (optional)
Olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
Warm the stock. Add the potato, carrot and bay leaf. Cook on medium-to-low heat for about 15 minutes. Then, add the pasta and cook at same medium-to-low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until pasta is al dente and potatoes tender.
Snip or slice sausages into 2cm pieces – remove skins. Warm a splash of olive oil in a good-sized saucepan or pot. Fry sausage with the diced aubergine until golden. Add pepper, onion and garlic; cook until soft. Add courgette and sauté over medium-high heat, until it starts to pick up a bit of colour.
Stir in the tomatoes and a good splash of balsamic and/or wine; let it bubble up for a minute. Reduce heat. Add beans, potatoes, carrots, pasta and any remaining stock. Let it bubble up. Simmer for 10 minutes to let the flavours mingle. Turn off the heat.
Dish up, adding a glug of olive oil, a handful of basil, a heap of Parmesan and freshly ground pepper over the top of each bowl.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
07 Aug 2010 at 11:19
Hi Rachel,
In your chicken fajitas recipe you say you have an easy recipe for homemade flour tortillas. Any chance you could share it? I’d love to have a go at making them to go with the chicken filling.
Many thanks
07 Aug 2010 at 16:11
Hello Theresa,
Thanks for your comment. Homemade tortillas are great. Here’s my recipe… just to note, I normally use our stoneground flour but last night I made these using Dove’s flour and I needed a lot more flour. If you have our or another flour that says it’s stoneground than just follow the recipe below. If not, just increase the white flour by 75g and you should have good results.
I hope you enjoy them!
Best wishes,
Rachel
Homemade Flour Tortilla Wraps
These are so much better than store-bought tortillas and they’re surprisingly easy to make. They need to be eaten soon after you’ve cooked them, though. If you want to prepare them in advance, make the dough, wrap in clingfilm to prevent it from drying out. Then, roll and cook as you need it. The dough also freezes well.
Makes 8
125g strong stoneground white flour*
125g wholemeal flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
200ml warm (but not boiling) water
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the water.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Dust with a bit of flour and knead in the bowl (this saves you getting flour all over your worktops (just yet, anyway). Knead for a few minutes until the dough is soft yet firm.
Break dough up into eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands. Pop all of them into the bowl and cover, taking one out at a time to roll and cook.
Before you start rolling set a large frying pan (no need to oil it) over medium-high heat. Dust a large cutting board or a countertop space with flour. Pat one of your dough balls into pat into a circle (about 5cm), and then roll out until it’s about the size of a plate. Cook the tortilla in the hot frying pan for about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done. Brush one side with olive oil to keep it moist. Wrap in a clean cloth as you cook the others. Once you’ve cooked the full batch, eat straight away, or keep stored in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. They’ll keep for 1-2 days but you’ll need to warm them in frying pan or in the oven to soften them back up.
*If you’re using plain white flour instead, use 200g instead of 125g.
09 Aug 2010 at 14:26
Thanks for this Rachel – I’ll let you know how we get on. We made the chicken and red pepper fajitas with store bought tortillas last night and the filling was delicious!
Teresa
15 Aug 2010 at 12:55
i made a fab soup with my green peppers whole celery onion fennel seeds seasoning chicken and veg stock blend with coconut milk ho i think i chuked in a couple of ripe toms love jan x
15 Aug 2010 at 13:01
my plums and pears were juicy fabulos but banana were off inside so sorry i forgot the potatoes in the green soup it was fabulosa x
12 Sep 2011 at 21:20
Hello Rachel
I’ve never read before about needing to add extra flour if you have a recipe that uses stoneground flour but are using non-stoneground – that’s very interesting, is it a food ‘law’ – is there a ‘scientific’ reason for it? I use the no-knead slow fermentation bread recipe quite often but have never used stoneground flour, just normal strong flour – should I be adding more flour in this case?
Thanks!
{ 1 trackback }
You must be logged in to Abel & Cole to leave a comment.