Minestrone

This minestrone comes from Jamie Oliver's book, Jamie's Italy. We've had great success with many of the recipes in this book. I served it with whole grain crusty rolls and a selection of cheeses. It was wonderful ... perfect after a blustery cold January day.

Minestrone d'inizio Autunno Serves 4-6
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200g/7oz dried cannellini or borlotti beans, soaked overnight
1 bay leaf
1 tomato, squashed
1 small potato, peeled
olive oil
4 slices smoked pancetta or bacon, chopped (optional ... I left it out)
2 small red onions, peeled and finely chopped (I used 1 leek, thinly sliced)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sticks celery, trimmed and chopped
1/2 bulb of fennel, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
small bunch of fresh basil, leaves and stalks seperated
2 x 400g cans of good-quality plum tomatoes (I think they are 15 oz cans in the US)
2 small zuchinis, quartered and sliced
glass of red wine (I used a good Chianti)
200 g/7 oz. swiss chard or spinach, washed and roughly sliced (I used frozen because I had it on hand)
550 ml/1 pint vegetable stock
55 g/ 2 oz dried pasta
Parmesan cheese, for serving

Add your soaked beans to a pan of water with the bay leaf, squashed tomato and potato - this will help to flavor the beans and soften their skins. Cook until tender, about 45-60 min. Drain, reserving about half a glass of cooking liquid, and discard bay leaf, tomato and potato. Season beans with salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil.

While the beans are cooking, make your soffrito. Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onions, carrots, celery, fennel, garlic and finely sliced basil stalks ... (and bacon if you are using). Sweat very slowly on a low heat, with the lid just ajar, for about 15-20min ... until soft but not brown. Add tomatoes, zucchini, and red wine and simmer gently for 15 min.

Now add chard or spinach, stock and beans (along with the cooking liquid you saved). Put the dried past into a plastic bag, squeeze the air out and bash gently with a rolling pin to break the pasta into pieces. Add the pasta to the soup. Stir and continue to simmer until the pasta is cooked. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with torn basil leaves, a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese.