The River Cafe's winter minestrone

The River Cafe's winter minestrone

A really thick, filling minestrone soup - tastes even better after a day

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1¾ hours

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and slowly fry the carrots, onion and celery until soft and dark. This will take about 20 minutes but it's worth it - the slow cooking gives a lovely taste. Add the garlic, chard stalks and half the parsley, and stir to prevent sticking. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes or until reduced.
  2. Add half the Swiss chard leaves, half the cavolo nero, three-quarters of the beans, and the boiling stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Pour in more stock if needed - don't add too much - it should be thick.
  3. Add the remaining Swiss chard and cavolo nero and blanch briefly so they remain green and crisp. Season when slightly cooled.
  4. Purée the remaining cannellini beans coarsely in a blender with some of the cooking liquid. Add to the soup - it should be very green. Stir in the herbs and serve hot with Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Per serving

263 kcalories, protein 17g, carbohydrate 27g, fat 10 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 9g, salt 2.64 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2003.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • 21 Novembro 2007

    hayleytaylor rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Wonderful winter's day warmer. Very easy to cook.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 27 Dezembro 2007

    neiljohn rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Excellent - It really does taste better after a day and is great on a winters day!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 Março 2008

    FOod rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 27 Março 2008

    Neil commented on this recipe

    joy

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 19 Setembro 2008

    kizmax rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    easy to make, tastes great, brilliant dish when its cold and wet outside, light a fire and eat this yummy soup !

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 02 Novembro 2008

    avrilbaigent rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this overnight in slow cooker. Did it with borlotti beans - soaked them first during the day, then boiled 10 mins. Added beans to rest of ingredients (except cavelo nero) and left to cook. Just added cavelo nero next morning. Was lovely for lunch, even better once it had been in the fridge for a day or two.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 18 Novembro 2008

    ChloeQ commented on this recipe

    Absolutely delicious. I added a couple of tablespoons of macaroni as well, which was a nice touch. Agree that it gets even better after leaving it overnight.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 18 Novembro 2008

    ChloeQ rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 24 Novembro 2008

    RachyC commented on this recipe

    Thanks for the tip ChloeQ. Added the macaroni and you were spot on with that one. lovely and warming on a cold winters night :)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 24 Novembro 2008

    ChloeQ commented on this recipe

    Anytime RachyC, if you ever want any more advice, visit my homepage - its www.chloestricksandtips.com - possibilities for minestrone soup are endless!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 26 Novembro 2008

    JoJo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic, and much more flexible than you might think. I've added pasta instead of beans - it was even better. Yum!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 31 Março 2009

    Agatha commented on this recipe

    Would love to make this! Can anyone tell me what they did with the garlic?

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 31 Janeiro 2010

    mirakissanpoika rated this recipe

    2 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 25 Julho 2010

    matt rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A bowl of steaming health.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 12 Outubro 2010

    Marcella commented on this recipe

    I just made it with lentils and red kidney beans, added some rough bacon pieces too.. smells divine!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 25 Janeiro 2011

    Monkeymagic rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    I am absolutely baffled as to why this recipe is marked as easy? I couldn't get the swiss chard and was advised on the internet that a mixture of spinach and kale would suffice. However the weight in the recipe must be wrong as I had far too much and equally 700ml of stock wasn't enough liquid. I ended up with a bit pot full of green mess which tasted nice but wasn't a soup.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 26 Setembro 2011

    Marcsi rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I had about 1 small glass of wite wine in the fridge. I added that and used dried mixed italian herbs plus a bit of extra thyme - it was lovely. You won't need 2 kg of leaf vegetables in it. They are sold in 200g packs which is more than what you'll need. Even if you add 1l of stock it'll be really thick.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 Novembro 2011

    Mrs Scott rated this recipe

    2 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 17 Janeiro 2012

    Melanie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    A very good and healthy soup. I added barley to it to make it more substantial.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • 24 Janeiro 2012

    Big Phil commented on this recipe

    celery = apio Cannelini beans = alubias parsley = perejil Swiss chard = acelgas Kale = col frizada (for cavolo nero)

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 5

Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 1¾ hours

Vegetarian

Vegetarian

Just as good the next day

Ingredients

Print this recipe
Add to your binder

Per serving

263 kcalories, protein 17g, carbohydrate 27g, fat 10 g, saturated fat 2g, fibre 9g, salt 2.64 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close