My husband loves minestrone, so this is something we have quite often. We always have a couple of canned minestrone at home, if we fancy a light dinner and we are not in the mood for cooking. Minestrone is very easy to make at home, healthy, and cheap. It is one of those recipes I wouldn’t have thought to share, until today.

I approximate that a serving costs 30p! It also counts as 1 towards your 5-a-day. It is also great if you are on a diet, as the homemade version is low in fat. Of course, minestrone is naturally vegan, but make sure you avoid egg pasta if you want to keep it vegan. I used some cute small pasta you can spot in the soup, which was eggless. It takes about 20 minutes to make, from start to finish, and keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days.
When it comes to chopped tomatoes, I use the supermarket’s own brand, and I do the same for beans. For this soup I used butter beans which is 60p per can.

Ingredients for 6 servings of Minestrone:

– 1 can of chopped tomatoes
– 1 medium red onion
– 2 spoons of oil
– 1 can of beans
– 50g pasta
– 1 carrot
– 1 garlic clove
– dried oregano
– dried parsley
– salt
– dried basil
– dried dill
– pepper

Start by chopping the onion. Heat the oil in a big pan. Toss in the onions and stir over medium heat for a few minutes. Wash, peel, and grate the carrot before adding it to the pan. Stir and leave to cook for another couple of minutes. Pour the chopped tomatoes, the beans, the pasta, and the mashed garlic and stir. Add boiling water and stir. Leave to cook for 10 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
The soup is now ready to be served.