Pesto minestrone
You can make a vegetarian version of this if you prefer. Just cook it for about half the time.
You’ll need
- One onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 carrot
- 2 sticks of celery
- 1 tin of tomatoes
- 300g of smoked bones (I use smoked pork ribs, but smoked bacon bones will work aswell)
- 100ml white wine
- 1 tin beans (any type you like)
- 100g pasta (small pasta)
- 6-8 cups of stock (anything but beef)
For pesto
- One clove of garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large bunch of basil
- Pinch of salt
- 30g of pine nuts
To cook
Fry up the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in olive oil for 15min. Add wine and a tin of tomatoes and cook for another 5-10mins. Add the stock and bones and bring to the boil. At this point I put the oven on a low heat leave the soup to cook very slowly for around 4-5 hours. If you’re in a hurry, leave it on the stove top and simmer for 1-2 hours. Once done, remove the pasta and cut the meat off the bones. Next add in the pasta and beans and as much water as you need to bring it back to a good consistency.
To make the pesto blend the basil, one clove of garlic, nuts and salt in a food processor until smooth-ish.
Once the beans and pasta are cooked, add enough water that’s it’s a reasonable consistency (soupy but not thin), then add a big dollop of pesto and some parmesan to serve.
I like to serve it with toasted cheese on bread.
