That time of year is upon us yet again… “Wimbledon”!!
I love this time of year as for all foodies and vegetable growers in the UK, this week brings such joy. It is as if everything starts to come alive when Wimbledon starts. My first thought whilst I was watching Wimbledon for its first day was of course about the great British strawberry. I could’nt get it out of my head…Still can’t!
Yesterday and today has been a real inspiration and I have fantastic ideas to conquer, which I will dissclose at a later date.
As I look outside I can see my little peas growing fast, Salads and herbs galore! Even my Courgettes have had a burst of growth (at about 5-6 inches now) I cannot wait to eat the flowers aswell.
So…What did I make for lunch yesterday…MINESTRONE SOUP!…** Screeching of a record player sounds** …
MINESTRONE SOUP? I asked myself where on earth that came from?, thus having all these other ideas floating around my Foodie brain? Well at about 2.30pm it came. It was after watching Keith Floyd again yesterday morning, I apparantly couldn’t get that out of my brain either! That man does it yet again for me. I didn’t do entirly his recipe as I like to have a few differences. But it was a lovely, fresh, hearty but yet light, late Lunch.
So there we have it… Minestrone soup at Wimbledon!
Minestrone soup
Recipe: (Serves 2-3 ish)
Olive oil.
1 onion finely diced.
1 large Carrot diced small.
1 large stick of celery chopped finely also.
2 cloves of Garlic or 1 large clove chopped very fine.
level tsp of dried oregano.
Fresh Chopped tomatoes (The better quality the better) really red and juicy.Approx 250g
Roughly 700ml of water.
I used 1/4 cube of veg stock and 1/4 of chicken stock. You can use veg or chicken or both in my case.
1 tbsp of tomato puree
A bouquet garni of fresh thyme and rosemary. (tied together).
Spaghetti broken to 1 inch in length or very small shaped pasta.
100g of Butter beans or cannellini beans rinsed off with water (Tinned)
A handfull of fresh baby Spinach. Ripped roughly.
Cracked black pepper and salt if needed.
Chopped Basil and grated parmesan to serve.
Fry off in the olive oil the onion, carrot and celery for a few minutes. Then add the garlic, oregano, tomatoes and tomato puree. You may need to add a little more olive oil at this stage. Then top up with the water and stock. Add the Bouquet garni and cook for about 20 minutes.
In that 20 minutes is a perfect time to have a glass of wine in the sun 🙂
After the 20 minutes, You may need to add a little more water to this as you are adding the spaghetti and beans next. If you do add water, taste to see if you need more stock or tomato puree or even seasoning etc…
Cook the spaghetti and beans for no more than 10 minutes. Should be done after 8 minutes. After 8 minutes add the spinach.
Scatter the chopped basil and grated parmesan (don’t be shy now) and serve with crusty ciabatta and of course your second large glass of Red wine, preferably a Chianti.
ChezJ9 