Winter minestrone with pesto croûtes

Recipe uploaded by

Mary Cadogan

7 ratings

Recipe by Mary Cadogan

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1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and lardons or bacon and fry for about 5 mins until the onion is starting to brown. Tip in the carrots, celery, potato and garlic, stir well and cook for a few minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, stock and sage, and bring to the boil, stirring. Reduce heat to simmer and cook partly covered for 30 mins, stirring in the cabbage after 15 mins. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the pan with the parsley. Season and serve with pesto croûtes, see right, or crusty bread.
3. For the pesto croûtes: Cut 3-4 slices of crusty bread into chunks, about 2cm thick. Tip into an ovenproof pan. Mix the olive oil and pesto, then add to the bread, tossing it with your hands until the croûtes are evenly coated. Bake in a moderate oven for about 10 mins until crisp.

Make it vegetarian

Leave out the bacon and use 100g/4oz sliced chestnut mushrooms instead.

Per serving

274 kcalories, protein 13g, carbohydrate 28g, fat 13 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 8g, salt 2.56 g

Latest comments and suggestions

• Louise

  07 December 2007

  Louise rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Yum yum yum. Tasy, healthy and hearty!

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• oni_t

  05 January 2008

  oni_t rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Delicious - made it again and again!

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• goodfood

  10 January 2008

  goodfood commented on this recipe

  Tasty and filling. Great with warm crusty bread. Instead of shredded cabbage, I added some finely chopped green beans. Even the kids had empy bowls!

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• Sajan

  13 January 2008

  Sajan rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Gorgeous and filling I use left over sprouts instead of the cabbage after Christmas.

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• Emma

  20 February 2008

  Emma rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Great recipe. Any green veg would be fine in place of the cabbage. As the veg in this is chopped fairly small and the haricot beans are nice and soft it made a lovely nutritious meal for my one year old son.

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• Lucyf

  27 March 2008

  Lucyf rated and commented on this recipe

  

  This is really, really tasty.

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• delilah

  10 April 2008

  delilah rated and commented on this recipe

  

  This soup went down really well with all the family even though it is not blended & therefore the youngest 2 knew how many vegetables were in there! The instructions on the croutes were vague so I mixed the olive oil & pesto together & added bread till I felt the right consistency had been reached. These tasted fantastic. I put the remaing ones in a container in the fridge thinking I would use them later in a salad. I found an empty plastic container in the fridge this morning!!

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• delilah

  10 April 2008

  delilah commented on this recipe

  This soup went down really well with all the family even though it is not blended & therefore the youngest 2 knew how many vegetables were in there! The instructions on the croutes were vague so I mixed the olive oil & pesto together & added bread till I felt the right consistency had been reached. These tasted fantastic. I put the remaing ones in a container in the fridge thinking I would use them later in a salad. I found an empty plastic container in the fridge this morning!!

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• Mummy Batten

  23 August 2008

  Mummy Batten rated and commented on this recipe

  

  Great tasting soup. Used to blend it for the children when they were smaller. Firm favourite with the whole family and healthy too! Easy to adapt with what's available.

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• Joan

  28 September 2008

  Joan commented on this recipe

  I make this all the time. My family love it and it is a popular meal for a Canadian winter's day. I use shredded brussels sprouts instead of the cabbage.

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• Pammy

  07 October 2008

  Pammy commented on this recipe

  This was lovely and went down very well with my teenage daughter. Very rich and filling. I added green beans instead of cabbage which was nice. Also wished I had left out the bacon as I don't eat much meat. Would certainly make again.

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion , chopped
• 100g unsmoked lardons or chopped streaky bacon
• 2 large carrots , chopped
• 2 sticks celery , chopped
• 1 medium potato , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped or crushed
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1l vegetable stock (from granules or a cube)
• 2 tsp chopped sage leaves, or 1 tsp dried
• few cabbage leaves, shredded
• 400g can haricot beans
• handful chopped parsley

FOR THE PESTO CROUTES

• slices of crusty bread
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp pesto

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Difficulty and servings

Serves 4

Preperation and cooking times

Prep 15 mins

Cook 40 mins

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion , chopped
• 100g unsmoked lardons or chopped streaky bacon
• 2 large carrots , chopped
• 2 sticks celery , chopped
• 1 medium potato , chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped or crushed
• 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1l vegetable stock (from granules or a cube)
• 2 tsp chopped sage leaves, or 1 tsp dried
• few cabbage leaves, shredded
• 400g can haricot beans
• handful chopped parsley

FOR THE PESTO CROUTES

• slices of crusty bread
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp pesto

Per serving

274 kcalories, protein 13g, carbohydrate 28g, fat 13 g, saturated fat 3g, fibre 8g, salt 2.56 g

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