Easy Cheesy Mushroom Minestrone
This is my super simple recipe for a light but wholesome mushroom minestrone. Another soup of Italian origin, minestrone makes use of whatever ingredients you have available in your fridge or pantry. This recipe is super delicious and fragrant, and the mushrooms add a lovely umami flavour and moorish quality. I’ve left out rice or pasta in my version of this minestrone, but I’ve also added instructions below if you would like to add some to yours. I’ve served the minestrone here with my brioche buns, recipe available under baking!
To make this vegan simply swap the Parmesan at the end to nutritional yeast or vegan cheese!
INGREDIENTS
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 can of cannellini beans
About 10 button mushrooms, sliced (or any mushroom of your choice)
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 teaspoons of chilli flakes
3 teaspoons of salt, or to taste
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 cup of water
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
1 fresh thyme sprig
½ cup of grated Parmesan, to serve
optional: fresh parsley to serve
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large saucepan or shallow Dutch oven on medium-high heat, add the olive oil, oregano, chilli flakes, onion, carrot, celery, mushrooms and garlic; and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are soft and fragrant, around 10 minutes.
Next, add the canned beans and tomatoes, cup of water, as well as the spring of thyme. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with its lid and simmer on a low heat, stirring occasionally for around 30 -45 minutes.
To serve, toast some bread (sourdough or ciabatta works well, to serve on the side). Ladle the stew into bowls then top with the grated Parmesan and parsley, please enjoy!
Notes: If you would like to add pasta or rice, you can add them directly to the pot just before the last step - cook pasta and rice till al dente (7 minutes or so, rice around 10 minutes)!