Winter Warmer: Italian Minestrone

It's the first day of Winter and what better way to start it with a wholesome traditional Minestrone soup.
The great thing about making this soup is that it is so simple to prepare and you can use whatever vegetables you have available. All you need is some stock, (can be in the cube form) either a tin of tomatoes or home made passatta (I prefer the latter) and some good herbs and legumes. 

I prefer to use dried legumes and soak them in water over night to use in my Italian minestrone. However if you don't have time, the canned variety is just as good. I make my own dried legume mix which is stored in an air tight container and combines dried white beans, split peas, red and brown lentils. You can also add chickpeas, french lentils and other dried legumes if you like.

For today's minestrone recipe I had carrots, turnips, onions, capsicum, spinach and corn readily available to use. You can also add pumpkin, sweet potato, normal potato and celery. Ensure to always have onion and garlic available for this recipe, it's staple for a traditional Italian minestrone soup.

When preparing this soup, you will need a deep cooking pot and approx 2 ltrs of boiled water.

Ingredients for Italian Minestrone:

1 red onion chopped and diced
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
5 cups of diced vegetables of your choice (see above)
3 cups tomato passatta
2 liters boiled water
2 cups baby spinach
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp rosemary
2 vegetable stock cubes

How to make Italian Minestrone:

1. Preheat the olive oil in the cooking pot on medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook on medium heat until transparent.

3. Add the diced vegetables and stir through.

4. Add the stock cubes and break down and mix through the vegetables. Cook for 4 minutes stirring constantly.
5. Add the tomato passatta and mix through. Cook for a further 2 minutes.

6. Add the bay leaf, oregano and rosemary and mix through.
7. Top with 2 litres of boiled water and cook with the lid slightly ajar for 1 hour stirring every 10 minutes. Ensure the heat is set at medium heat.

8. When the minestrone has been cooked, switch off the heat and add the spinach. Stir through.

Soup is ready to serve!

Enjoy.