Zuppa di Minestrone

Zuppa is 'soup' in Italian and the class of soups with pasta and veggies are called 'Minestrone' (pronounced as minis-troney) which is the most popular soup in Italy. I had some leftover pasta and coming across this recipe was very coincidental. I had made this zuppa (I like the sound of this word itself) last night; both of us liked it. Most recipes from internet had almost same recipe and I had given a small twist by adding Szechuan sauce to make it spicy which you can avoid if you prefer to follow the authentic recipe.

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 15 min

Cooking Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1.     Cooked pasta – 1 cup

2.     Carrot – 2 medium

3.     Bush beans – 6

4.     Shallots – 6 (Can replace with 2 small onions)

5.     Tomato – 2 small

6.     Garlic – 4 cloves

7.  Bay leaf – 1

8.     Italian seasoning – ¼  tsp

9.     Crushed pepper – ¼ tsp

10.  Salt to taste

11. Olive oil – ½ tbsp.

12. Stock – 3 cups (if unavailable use water)

13. Szechuan sauce – 1 tbsp (Optional)

Method:

Step 1: Clean and dice the vegetables; if cooked pasta is not there, cook it in parallel while cutting vegetables.

Step 2: In a handi, pour oil and add bay leaf, minced garlic and onions. When the onion softens add all other vegetables and toss for a minute with a pinch of salt.

Step 3: Now pour in the stock and add enough salt. Cover and let it cook for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Now open and dissolve a spoon of Szechuan sauce (if you are using); sprinkle Italian seasoning, crushed pepper and put in pasta.

Step 5: Let it cook open for another 5 minutes.

Step 6: Serve hot with bread sticks or relish it as is.