Mushroom, Bean & Lentil Minestrone

Published by

Jasmine

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Honestly, I’ve never been a fan of minestrone soup; it brought up memories of unappetising canned slop, but then it dawned on me… what if I’d just never had a good minestrone? So, I set myself a challenge to tweak it to my personal preferences and see if I could enjoy it. The result was, not only did I like it, but I loved it! Here’s the winning recipe…

INGREDIENTS

Aromatics:

Garlic

Shallot

Celery

Carrot

Oregano

Chilli flakes

Vegetables and beans:

Mushrooms

Cavolo nero

Lentils (brown or green – canned / pre-cooked)

Borlotti beans (cannellini beans also work – canned / pre-cooked)

Everything else:

Finely chopped tomatoes (or blend some normal chopped tomatoes, or just enjoy a chunkier texture!)

Tomato paste

Vegetable stock cube

Parsley

Pasta (I used Messicani but any shape that will fit onto a spoon will do)

Italian hard cheese (e.g. Parmigiano Reggiano – optional: use the rind if you have it, vegan swap – nutritional yeast and / or cashew parm)

TIPS & NOTES

I recommend that if you want to prep this ahead that you just do the base and then when you want to reheat it, you add the base to a saucepan and add the dried pasta at this point, so it cooks in the broth (rather than getting soggy / overcooked through reheating).

There’s not a bunch of technique to this recipe, which is why I love it, just make sure you cook off the mushrooms so a lot of water evaporates and they don’t go smushy or spongy. I also like to wash my mushrooms and dry them with a tea towel and let them sit on it to remove any excess moisture before cutting them up.

Also another tip; you don’t have to cook the soup with the rind, but it adds extra flavour – just be sure to scrape off any wax. What I actually do when I use up a block of something like Parmigiano Reggiano is scrape off the wax, freeze it and then I have plenty saved up to add into soups like this when needed. To make this plant-based, simply omit this garnish and using the rind in the soup base, or replace with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavour.

Mushroom, Bean & Lentil Minestrone

  • Servings: 3
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

A simple and tasty minestrone with longevity-boosting ingredients

No special equipment or advance prep needed


Ingredients

  • 1 shallot (finely chopped)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
  • 1 carrot (peeled and finely diced)
  • 1 stick of celery (diced)
  • 100g of small pasta
  • 200g of mushrooms (medium diced)
  • 1/2 of a 400g tin of borlotti beans (drained and rinsed)
  • 1/2 of a 400g tin of lentils (drained and rinsed)
  • 1/3 of a 400g tin of finely chopped tomatoes
  • 125g of cavolo nero (de-stemmed and roughly chopped)
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • Rind from the hard cheese (optional)
  • 30g of Italian hard cheese (finely grated)
  • A small handful (c.5g) of parsley (large stems removed and roughly chopped)
  • 1 vegetable stock cube
  • 1/2 a tsp of chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp of oregano
  • A few drizzles of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

  1. In a large lidded pot over a medium heat, drizzle some olive oil and then add the garlic and shallot, season with salt and pepper then sauté for a couple of minutes until fragrant
  2. Add the carrot and celery and sauté for a further couple of mins
  3. Whilst that’s going, boil the kettle
  4. Add the chilli flakes and oregano to the aromatics, stir and sauté for another couple of mins
  5. Add the mushrooms, and sauté for 5-7 mins until excess moisture has been cooked off and they pick up some colour
  6. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetable stock by dissolving the cube in a 1L of boiling water
  7. Add the tomato paste to the pot and stir, cooking with the soup base for a couple of mins
  8. Add the optional rind, pasta, finely chopped tomatoes and 1L of vegetable stock to the pot, cover and bring to the boil before reducing to a simmer for 8 mins or so (until the pasta is cooked al dente)
  9. Add the parsley, cavolo nero, beans and lentils and remove the rind, cover and simmer for an extra couple of mins
  10. Serve topped with the grated hard cheese

Let me know if you try my take on a minestrone soup!

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