Minestrone

By: Louise Fulton Keats, Margaret Fulton
From: My Grandma's Kitchen
Serves: 4-6

Next to the herbs we grow beans and zucchini. We pick them and chop them to make minestrone. I tell Harry, ‘You get to stir in the pasta and peas … and I’ll be in charge of the parmesan cheese!’

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
1 tablespoon	olive oil
4 rashers	free-range bacon, rind removed and diced
2	cloves garlic, finely chopped
1	brown onion, finely chopped
1	large carrot, diced
2	celery stalks, diced
2 tablespoons	tomato paste
2	large tomatoes, diced
5 cups	beef or vegetable stock
3/4 cup	small pasta shells or macaroni
1 cup	fresh or frozen peas
1	zucchini, diced
150g	green beans, trimmed and cut into short lengths
400g	canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup	parsley, chopped
	salt
	freshly ground black pepper
	grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the bacon, garlic, onion, carrot and celery for 4–5 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Add the tomato paste and tomatoes and saute for a further minute. Add the stock and 2 cups of cold water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 40 minutes. Add the pasta, peas, zucchini, green beans and cannellini beans and simmer, covered, for a further 15 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with parmesan cheese.