Preparation

Minestrone is a delicious vegetable soup to which rice or pasta can be added and is a speciality of Italian cuisine. The main ingredients are typically beans, onion, celery, carrots and tomato, although these can be varied. There is no definitive recipe, since whichever vegetables are in season locally are normally used. It is often served with grated Parmesan sprinkled on top.

The soup is a light and very healthy option and is ideal for those who those who wish to lose weight because it is filling yet has low calorific value. What's more, the vegetables it contains are rich in goodness: vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. As an optional extra, adding rice or pasta provides more complex carbohydrates.

Preparation:

The first thing to do is to put the haricot beans to soak the night before you want to use them.

The next step is to make the vegetable stock. To do this, wash the vegetables that you have set aside for the stock and chop them finely. Place the chopped vegetables in a pressure cooker along with a litre of water and a little salt and cook for five minutes once the water has come to the boil.

Next, add the haricot beans, the bay leaves, another half a chopped onion and a pinch of ground rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes in the pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, wash and chop up the rest of the vegetables (see ingredients for the soup above), except the tomato, which it is best to put in a blender.

Finely chop the rest of the onion and the garlic then heat some Betis olive oil in a saucepan and fry them on a medium heat until the onion starts to soften.

At this point, add the rest of the vegetables and a bit of salt and cook for 20 minutes on a low heat.

Then drain the beans and reserve them and the stock, which we now add to the sautéed vegetables, together with a pinch of parsley, black pepper and basil, and then continue to cook everything for another 15 minutes.

When this time has passed, add the beans and if you want to throw in some rice or pasta, now is a good time.

Allow the soup to cook for another 5 minutes or so (a little more if you have added rice or pasta).

The minestrone is then ready to serve and we recommend adding a sprinkling of Parmesan on top for extra taste.

Note: serves 4. Preparation time: 25 minutes. Cooking time: 50 minutes.