Traditional minestrone soup recipe

Ingredients

• 1 courgette
• 3-4 carrots
• 3-4 celery sticks
• 2 small onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1.5 l vegetable stock (or water + 3 stock cubes)
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp olive oil (or one calorie cooking spray)

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Finely chop the onion and garlic, and saute them in the pot until they are soft and translucent, about 4-5 minutes.

2. 2

   To the pot add chopped carrots, courgette and celery along with vegetable stock, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, parsley, thyme, salt and oregano. Bring this to a boil, and place a lid on the pot. Allow the soup to cook for about 20 minutes, or until the carrots have softened.

3. 3

   Then, add the pasta, stir and leave the soup to boil until the pasta has cooked through. This can vary, but typically takes up to 10 minutes.

4. 4

   Serve the soup steaming hot, with an optional side of crusty bread.