Recipe: Zelda's Pasta Minestrone Soup

A filling minestrone soup is pasta in a bowlful of steaming vegetable broth. The pasta quantity is minimal, but enough to provide delicious additional flavour. The vegetables are plentiful and simmer in a thick, rich-tasting tomato-basil base.

You may like to add a small quantity of legume to it -- like white beans or black-eyed beans (lobia or chawli) or canned borlotti beans or baked beans without the sauce or some kind of vaal or even rajma.

The name comes from the Italian word minestra, that is derived from minestrare which is 'to provide, serve, dish up'. Minestrones, part of peasant cuisine, are nutritious, earthy soups that all of Italy makes in umpteen thousand ways.

The dish has a popularity similar to our dal -- it's made right from the sunny boot of Italy to the snowy Italian Alps, but with a new taste, new tadka every few kilometres, every season, because the weather and produce available reflects what goes in it. They can be heartier when the mercury dips during winter and thin and light on summery days.

Minestrones are generally meat-free because that's how they were first eaten -- vegetarian out of necessity -- back in 2nd or 3rd century BC, before the Roman kingdom had come to be. And the beauty of this class of soups is that nearly any vegetable works in a minestrone, seasonal harvest ideally, and different pastas lend a fresh taste to the soup.

Over time you can choose the combo of veggies that works for you in your own signature minestrone. Like dal, there is no fixed recipe for a minestrone, so chop and change at will. Some minestrones can have a pesto base too.

I chose lasagne as the pasta for this soup because I wanted a large pasta, which then gives a bigger, buttery taste. I also preferred to add a little halloumi cheese, now sold by several Indian cheesmakers, in addition to Parmesan, to infuse a mildly feta-like, salty, tangy punch.

I like to use Parmesan while serving and there are Indian companies making great Parmesan, but a bit of any grated cheese will do too, preferably a hard cheese. Fresh basil is a must for the recipe.

Served up with slices of warm multigrain bread, or sandwiches and a glass of wine/apertif, this could be your main course and an elegant Italian meal at that.

Zelda's Pasta Minestrone Soup

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium potato, chopped, skin on
• ½ a medium zucchini, chopped, skin on
• 5-6 French beans, finely chopped
• ½ cup chopped spinach
• 3 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped kadu or pumpkin
• 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 6-7 garlic pods, crushed or minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• ½ a carrot, julienned
• 2-3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 4-5 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• Dash balsamic vinegar to add rich fruitiness, optional
• Salt to taste, about 2 tsp
• 2 tsp freshly crushed black pepper
• 2 strands fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 sheets uncooked lasagne, roughly broken into 1-inch square pieces
• Water
• 4-5 tbsp chopped greens of spring onions
• 5-6 tbsp grated Parmesan, preferably, or any other cheese
• 5-6 tbsp chopped halloumi cheese (you could substitute with crumbled feta)

Method

• In a large saucepan, over medium heat, fry the chopped onion, garlic, potatoes, zucchini for 10 minutes, mixing often.
  Then add in the tomatoes, half of the basil, pumpkin, celery, parsley, beans, salt, pepper, thyme and 3 cups of water.
  Simmer over medium heat till the tomato disintegrates, about 15 minutes.
  Add in the spinach, vinegar, carrots and the broken lasagne sheets and more water and simmer for another 10 minutes and take off heat.
  Add in the remaining basil and divide the soup between 2-3 serving bowls.
• Sprinkle the cheeses on top of each portion of soup and serve hot with a side of crusty bread or freshly-made garlic toast.

Zelda's Note: Instead of lasagne, use a handful of uncooked pasta of some other variety -- macaroni or fusilli (spirals) or bows or broken spaghetti or even the tinier orzo pasta. Kids might prefer alphabet pasta or interesting-shaped (planes, stars, houses), available online.

Incidentally adding pasta or a grain is not a must. Some add rice or cracked wheat or pearl barley. I did not add a legume but you could -- just a handful which should be soaked in advance.

I have chosen the seasonal vegetables that I had on hand. You could use these choices, or omit vegetables you don't prefer, and add further vegetables like green capsicum, peas, red or yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, turai.

For a little non-vegetarian flavour, consider adding a few tbsp chopped pre-fried bacon or chopped pre-fried sausages or chopped pre-fried anchovies or shredded boiled chicken.

For a vegan version, skip the cheese and maybe add a few cubes pre-fried tofu.

For a Jain version, skip the potato, onion, carrots, spring onions and garlic.

• RECIPES