Vegan minestrone soup

Vegan minestrone soup

vegan minestrone

Now that autumn has fully moved in, the omnipresent evening chill is felt even more acutely by us in our sad, furnitureless living room, with half-scraped off walls and insufficient radiator coverage. Plummeting temperatures and the need for a bit more comfort in the cold weather has finally forced us to get started on bringing our Victorian living room into this century.

We spent last Sunday afternoon scraping wallpaper off the chimney breast and so far so good, it’s coming off fairly neatly without the need for a steamer (which we do own but dislike using). Like it is often the case with these things, once we started working our motivation (which was lacking in summer months) has intensified.

Other than scraping the wallpaper off, we needed to decide on the colour scheme, order two vertical radiators – one for the living room and one for the kitchen-diner, which share the wall we are partially knocking down. We haven’t yet completely decided on the wall colour (‘midnight teal’, which you might have seen in our Instastory is still a strong contender for the living room), but we did order the radiators. We bought a more traditional looking, anthracite painted radiator for the lounge, which commits us to a dark wall colour and a much more modern, white one for the dining room.

We may be crazy, but we figured that the two rooms serve totally different purposes so the difference is fully justified. The living room is north facing, so it is relatively dark anyway, it has a working wooden stove and we don’t tend to use this room other than in the evenings. So our rationale is that the dark walls will make the space more cosy, bring out the fireplace and the original cornice as focal features and we plan to lift up the darkness by using distressed gold fittings and pops of saturated colour here and there. We hope to make it look grand yet eclectic, inviting and cosy.

The kitchen-diner, on the other hand, is where we tend to spend most of our awake time. Well, I seem to be permanently fused to the stove there! It is South-exposed, which means it gets plenty of sun throughout the day and it feels light and airy rather than small and cosy. This is why we feel that it would benefit from light and cool, Scandi-inspired decor when we finally have the time and money to do it up.

Even though the logic is solid, I still seem a bit tormented by the magnitude of this decision and the necessity of getting it right. I have a vision, but I’ve never had the guts to paint anything other than white (or a very subtle colour) and I am getting cold feet. I am glad to have Duncan by my side and the fact that he is on board and I hope we will be pleased with the end result. I cannot wait to be watching Netflix from a comfortable sofa, with Tina snuggled between us and the fireplace going. It’s definitely something to aim for.

Speaking of all this need for cosiness, I am going to share a satisfying and easy-to-make soup recipe with you today. After the indulgence of the last recipe, I feel the need for something comforting but healthy for balance. This is my take on an Italian classic – a minestrone soup. It feels a touch ironic to publish a recipe for something that is famed for having no recipe at all, so take my recipe with a pinch of salt. Minestrone is an Italian soup made with ‘whatever seasonal produce you have on hand’ hence there is such a big variation in takes on it. While I am not a frequent soup eater myself, I do love a chunky, stew-like soup with toasted sourdough or, even better, with a heap of sourdough croutons on a cold winter evening.

vegan minestrone ingredients

vegan minestrone sauteeing

vegan minestrone ready

vegan minestrone bread

serves
4-6
PREP
15 min
COOKING
60 min
serves
4-6
PREPARATION
15 min
COOKING
60 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tbsp / 30 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more to drizzle
  • 1 medium onion, finely diced
  • 3 celery stalks, roughly diced
  • 2 carrots, roughly diced
  • 1 medium zucchini, roughly diced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 2 bay leaves (fresh if you have one growing in your garden)
  • 2 fresh rosemary twigs, leaves chopped finely or ½ tsp dried
  • 2 fresh thyme stalks, leaves picked or ½ tsp dried
  • 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional), adjust to taste
  • 1¼ tsp salt, adjust to taste
  • 2 x 400 g / 14 oz tins quality peeled plum tomatoes
  • 1 large sweet (or regular) potato, cubed into 1.25 cm / 0.5″ dice
  • 150 g / 5.25 oz conchigliette (or other small pasta of choice) or rice (for GF version)
  • 150 g / 5.25 oz savoy cabbage, shredded finely
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz lacinato kale, de-stemmed and shredded finely
  • 1 x 400 g / 14 oz can cannellini beans
  • black pepper, to taste
METHOD
  1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot.
  2. Once the oil gets hot, throw in diced onion, celery, carrot and zucchini (if using). Sauté on a very low heat until soft (15 minutes).
  3. Next, throw in garlic, bay leaves and herbs. Sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
  4. Mix in smoked paprika, chilli (if using) and salt. Adjust the amount of chilli to taste.
  5. Add canned tomatoes to the pot, squashing them with a wooden spoon once they are in the pot. Add 0.5 litre / 2 cups of water. Cover and simmer for about 30-45 minutes, until the tomatoes are falling apart. Top up with more water if the pot is looking dry.
  6. Add in about 0.75 litre / 3 more cups of water and cubed potatoes. Once the soup comes to a simmer, count down 5 minutes.
  7. Next add in pasta of choice (use rice for GF version but add it with potatoes as it takes longer to cook). Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for about 6 minutes before adding shredded cabbage and kale.
  8. Finally add in shredded cabbage, kale and drained beans. Simmer for further 5 minutes – until all the ingredients are fully cooked.
  9. Taste, adjust the seasoning.
  10. Divide between bowls, drizzle each portion with a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

NOTES
I didn’t want to make the recipe too long, but if you have some time on your hands this soup gets elevated to the next level by a dollop of vegan basil (or other) pesto. This is the rough recipe I follow using 100% basil instead of kale.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
287
14%
sugars
11 g
13%
fats
6 g
9%
saturates
1 g
4%
proteins
10 g
21%
carbs
48 g
19%
*per serving
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5.0
6 reviews, 14 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Aidan:
Hi Ania, when making the pesto with 100% basil, do you replace the kale with the basil at a 1:1 ratio?
(big fan of your recipes BTW! Making my way through the soups this winter. And the aubergine lasagne went down a treat when I made it for an NYE party last year!)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Aidan,
    Thanks so much, I am delighted to hear that you enjoy my recipes! Yes, I tend to use about 100 g (3.5 oz) of basil roughly, like in this recipe here. Hope this helps! x Ania
Stacy:
Congratulations, I really like your site and I am more inspired by you for my own creativity. I wanted to thank you for a number of useful and tasty recipes. Most recently, I used this recipe to make breakfast for my family. Ohhhh https://kitchenbackground.com/vegetarian-minestrone-soup/ Husband and children are delighted. Thanks for the help. After changing a couple of categories in the recipe, I also created my own, I hope you will appreciate and understand what has become my muse and passion in cooking! Thank.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you Stacy! That's lovely to hear that you've been enjoying my recipes and thank you, I've never been anyone's muse, I don't think but I am happy to have a go at 'musedom' ;) x Ania
Scott:
Brilliant
Scott
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you! Nice to hear!
Ruth Taylor:
Hi, can this be frozen and reheated? Thanks
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Ruth,
    I don't see why not although I have not done that myself. Ania
Marlene:
This is SO amazing!!! It's my new favourite dish :) Thank you Ania <3
I changed it up a bit because I had different vegetables at home
    Ania
    Ania:
    I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it so much, Marlene! Of course, this kind of soup is absolutely fine to tinker with/make it your own! Ania
Gastrofoodtr:
Thanx for recipe
    Ania
    Ania:
    My pleasure :) Ania
Meg:
This was delicious, my favorite soup that I've ever made! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Meg, I am so happy to hear that! x Ania
Janne:
How many liters of soup does this recipe make? I have a 6 L pot and I wonder if twice or thrice this recipe would fit in.
Thanks!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Janne,
    I have not measured that exactly, but it makes 4 portions so I'm guessing about 1.5 l. Hope that helps! Ania
Alex:
This recipe was so easy and very delicious. Perfect winter weeknight meal. I also love the variety of vegetables incorporated. Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Alex, that's lovely to hear! x Ania
Cyn:
I made the Vegan Minestrone Soup according to your Recipe! We love it!!!! Easy to follow, and made it again and again! The greatest soup ever! Thank You!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm delighted to hear that, Cyn! Thank you for your kind words! Ania
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