Minestrone Soup with Angel-hair Pasta and Pesto Croutons

After a long walk in the park with Jessie, through gale-force winds, my lunch of Minestrone soup was very welcome.  With the soup simmering away on the stove all that was needed was to add some pasta and make the croutons.


I used angel-hair pasta as it was very quick to cook.
For the croutons I cubed a large slice of uncut bread and mixed together 1 tbsp olive oil and 2 tsp basil pesto, seasoned with  pepper then tossed it all together.  After spreading them over a baking tray I baked them in a pre-heated oven 190C for 7 minutes, grated a little Parmesan over the soup and put the croutons on top.


Great lunch!


Jessie had a pig's ear but we won't talk about that.


For the soup

1.5 litres chicken stock
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 courgette, diced
1/4 swede, diced
1 x 4oog tinned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
100g green beans, chopped
50g pasta
Parmesan cheese to garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper
A little olive oil

Heat the olive oil over a medium heat and sweat off the vegetables until they are just beginning to soften.

Place the stock, tinned tomatoes, puree and vegetables in a large pot, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 40 minutes.

Pop the pasta into the soup while you are making the croutons.

Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and croutons.