Cook This Ep 2: How to make Minestrone Soup

canned tomatoes

🥗Healthier: fresh tomatoes

💰Cheaper: crushed tomatoes

Fresh tomatoes enhance flavor, while crushed tomatoes are budget-friendly.

parmesan cheese

🥗Healthier: nutritional yeast

💰Cheaper: grated cheese blend

Nutritional yeast offers a cheesy flavor without dairy, and blends are often less expensive.

Start by preparing a vegetable stock using onions, carrots, celery, and leek.

Heat a dash of vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Sauté the chopped onions, carrots, celery, and leek until they start releasing flavors.

Add water to the pot to create the stock base and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid to infuse flavors.

In another pot, heat a little vegetable oil for the soup base.

Add chopped onion and crushed garlic to the pot and sauté.

Add diced carrots and potatoes to the pot, as they take longer to cook.

Stir in dried oregano to build flavor.

Once the stock is simmering, add calini beans and diced tomatoes to the soup pot.

Pour in some of the vegetable stock into the soup pot and cook slowly over medium heat.

Add chopped zucchini and stir through the soup.

Preheat the oven to 180°C for the parmesan crisp.

Grate parmesan cheese and form it into a circle on a baking tray.

Bake the parmesan in the oven for about 6-7 minutes until melted and slightly colored.

Check the soup; it should be coming along nicely with tender vegetables.

Prepare fresh parsley by roughly chopping it.

Once the parmesan crisp is ready, remove it from the oven.

Serve the soup by layering vegetables at the bottom of the bowl, pouring stock over the top, and adding a dollop of parmesan in the center.

Garnish with the parmesan crisp and fresh parsley.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens