Spring minestrone
There's a whole world of minestrones out there – most of which follow very strict, authentic recipes. Personally, I feel that a minestrone should always reflect the seasons: more cabbagy, frumpy ones in the winter and lighter, more colourful ones in the spring and summer. A minestrone can also be a whole meal if you want it to be, with pasta, stale bread or rice to bulk it out. To complement the spring vegetables, I've put a bit of a Genovese twist on it, with a spoon of fresh pesto added at the last minute, so the flavours explode in your mouth. Give it a bash.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 17 of 19 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 17 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Chicken | 100g cooked | 165 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Pea | 1/2 cup (72g) | 62 |
| Broccoli | 1 cup chopped (156g) | 55 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Bell Pepper | 1 medium (119g) | 31 |
| Plum | 1 medium (66g) | 30 |
| Fennel | 1/2 bulb (87g) | 27 |
| Asparagus | 6 spears (90g) | 27 |
| Cauliflower | 1 cup chopped (107g) | 27 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Basil | 5 leaves fresh (2.5g) | 1 |
| Chives | 1 tbsp (3g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Bean | not in our table | 0 |
| Broad Bean | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 6 heaped tablespoons fresh pesto
- 1.5 litres organic chicken, ham or vegetable stock
- 1 bulb fennel
- 100 g fine asparagus
- 2 Romanesco cauliflowers, or 1 large cauliflower
- 6 baby courgettes
- 6 plum tomatoes
- extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
- 100 g green beans, finely sliced
- 100 g yellow beans, finely sliced
- 100 g peas, podded
- 100 g broad beans, podded
- 100 g spaghetti, broken-up
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small handful fresh green or purple basil
- 1 small handful fresh chives