Vegan Minestrone Soup

Servings: 6 

Ingredients: 

• 2 Tbsp water

• 1 large white onion (diced)

• 6 cloves garlic (minced)

• 2 large carrots (finely diced)

• 3 stalks celery (fined diced)

• 1/2 medium courgette (finely diced)

• 1/4 head white cabbage (shredded)

• 1/2 tsp salt  

• 1/4 tsp black pepper 

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• 1.5 litres vegetable broth

• 1 tsp dried basil 

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tbsp mixed herbs 

• 1 pinch chili flakes (optional)

• 1 tin chickpeas (rinsed + drained)

• 200g wholegrain spaghetti (broken into 1.5 inch pieces)**

• 2 handfuls kale or spinach (roughly chopped)**

Method:

1. Heat a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add water, onion, and garlic and stir. Cook for 3 minutes.

2. Add the rest of the vegetables, salt and pepper stirring for a few more minutes until vegetables have softened slightly.

3. Add in the tomato paste to the vegetables and stir well to combine. Then add the tin of tomatoes, vegetable broth, basil, oregano, mixed herbs, chilli flakes (optional), and chickpeas. Stir well. 

4. Bring soup to a boil and then reduce heat to a medium simmer. Add spaghetti and stir. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

5. Taste soup and adjust seasonings as needed adding in more herbs, spice or salt/pepper as per your taste.

6. Add kale or spinach and cook for about 3-4 minutes. 

7. Allow the soup to sit before serving.

8. Store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days or the freezer up to 1 month. 

*As pasta can go mushy when cooked too much (or reheated), you can opt to omit from the main batch and just cook and add this in on the day of serving. The same goes for the fresh greens which can be added on the day.