Minestrone

There is no set recipe for this, and it should use seasonal vegetables. I’ll give one variant that is reasonably year-round (and cheap), plus a few suggestions. The core concept is to start with a soffrito, and add beans and pasta, as well as vegetables.

Start with some pancetta or bacon, chopped into small cubes, and fry to lightly brown over a medium heat. This can be omitted if desperate.

Finely chop one onion, 1 or 2 sticks of celery, and one large carrot. Soften over a medium to low heat in one or two tablespoons of olive oil with the bacon.

At this point add any herbs. Some thyme, basil, or even parsley are fine; preferably fresh, but you could use dried oregano if you like. If you have a parmesan rind, you can add it now, just before the stock.

Add the chopped vegetables. These can be root vegetables (potatoes, swede, turnip, parsnip), or brassica (cabbage or spring greens). Also add one (or two) litres of chicken (or ham) stock. Depending on the vegetables, these can cook for 20 minutes or longer (or less). A can of tomatoes is an optional ingredient that you can add here.

Add one tin of beans - borlotti is my preference, but cannelini or haricot are fine. Drain the tin before adding just the beans.

Bring to a simmer. At some point add a large handful (about a half cup full) of broken up pasta; any sort is fine. This only needs about 5-10 minutes cooking, so add shortly before you want to serve the soup.

Check the seasoning; I like this with plenty of black pepper, and you will need to add salt. Do this some time before serving, so that it has time to work - preferably before adding the pasta, which benefits from cooking in salted water.

Serve with a tablespoon of grated parmesan (or gran padano, which is cheaper) over each serving.

Variations:

Anything with tinned beans is better with dried beans; soak overnight in more water than you think, then boil for ten minutes, then simmer for anything from 40 minutes to two hours, until ready. Fresh beans are always better than dried (which are better than tinned).

The soup should be thick, so adjust the amount of stock to suit. You can serve about 20 minutes after adding the last ingredients, if you wish; or you can leave it for two to three hours at a very gentle simmer. If you use greens/cabbage, it’s best to cook for the shorter time, as the flavour gets stronger with long cooking; or just add 5-10 minutes before serving.

A clove of garlic added to the end of the soffrito is possible; you can use risotto rice instead of pasta (needs slightly longer to cook).

You can serve this over a crouton (which is a thick slice of dried bread that you have lightly toasted with a topping of cheese).

You can use frozen peas and sweetcorn with some potato (convenient); pumpkin or squash with carrots and celeriac; green/french beans, leeks and turnip. Whatever is fresh and cheap in the market. Courgettes are great in autumn, use with a couple of potatoes and some greens (spinach, perhaps).

I’d avoid using mushrooms; but you could use a handful of lentils. Stick to maybe three vegetables, counting the tomatoes but not the soffrito’s rather than going over the top.