Minestrone Soup with Pan-fried Tomato Garlic Bread
So yummy no one will ever know this recipe is FODMAP friendly!
With the weather warming up here, I thought I would post this recipe before it gets too hot to contemplate heating a big bowl of yummy warming soup. Minestrone is one of my all time favourite soups – lots of fond childhood memoires of my mum’s delicious minestrone. I know it may not be the most exciting thing ever, but for me this recipe is total comfort food and I think it’s super yummy. And the tomato and garlic pan-fried bread takes it to the next level. I think once you have tried the bread you will be making it all the time! Try it topped with avocado, goat’s cheese and fresh herbs – yum!
I decided to make this soup totally FODMAP friendly but I promise you that you won’t be able to tell! But feel free to add some garlic and onions at the start of the cooking process if you like. I have added weights to the mushrooms and celery, as these two vegetables need to be eaten in small amount for most people on the FODMAP diet. I haven’t added any pasta to this recipe as it’s not FODMAP friendly and I think the gluten free pasta goes soggy too easily. But if you want to add pasta, I would do this ten minutes before you turn the soup off so the pasta doesn’t overcook. The residual heat will continue to cook the pasta so make sure you turn the soup off before the pasta is al dente.
The key to a good soup, in my opinion, is cooking it really slowly. This allows for maximum flavor whilst still retaining some firmness in the vegetables. I usually end up cooking mine for a couple of hours, taking the soup off the heat for about ten minutes periodically to slow the cooking process down. You don’t need to do this if you don’t want – the following recipe suggests about an hours cooking. So it’s up to you!
Minestrone is a great way to use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge, so please add any extra vegetable you like. For those on the FODMAp diet, you could add capsicum, oyster mushrooms, pumpkin, kale, fennel, cabbage, parsnip or squash.
Minestrone Soup with Pan-fried Tomato Garlic Bread
Prep and cooking time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Serves: 6
Dietary guide: This soup is FODMAP friendly, gluten free and vegan.
Ingredients for the soup
I tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of garlic infused olive oil
1 small celery stick (60g)
½ small celeriac
3 medium Portobello mushrooms (60g)
2 long red chilli’s
1 carrot
½ cup of chopped spring onion – green part only
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon of ground fennel
½ teaspoon of ground cardamom (optional)
½ cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
800g of canned tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes with the skins removed
1 large potato
1 small sweet potato
1 can of kidney beans rinsed well
3 Massel ‘chicken style’ stock cubes
½ teaspoon of sugar
Freshly ground pepper
1 medium zucchini diced
2-3 cups of baby spinach
½ cup of chopped flat leaf parsley
¼ cup of chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons of chopped chives
Parmesan and extra fresh herbs to serve - optional
Ingredients for the bread
6 slices of sour dough bread
2 ripe tomatoes
1 ½ teaspoon of garlic oil
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and pepper
1). Dice the celery, carrot and mushrooms into an even medium dice. De-seed the chilli and slice thinly. Warm the olive and garlic oil into a large pot over a medium heat. Add the chopped spring onion, diced vegetables, chilli, bay leaf, thyme, oregano, ground fennel and cardamom. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables have softened - about 10 minutes.
2).Add the white wine and tomato paste and simmer until the white wine has mostly reduced. Add the canned tomatoes, potato, sweet potato, stock cubes, sugar, lots of pepper and 4 and ½ cup of cold water. Leave it on medium heat for about ten minutes or until the soup has reached a simmer. Turn the heat down as low as you can – I like to use a heat mat to help keep the temperature really low and even. If you a struggling to get a really low temperature, take the pot of the heat for a few minutes to cool before returning the pot to the heat. Simmer for about 40 - 50 minutes and then check to see how the potato is cooking. If the soup seems too thick, add an extra ½ cup of water.
3). When the potato is nearly cooked, add the diced zucchini and drained beans. Cook for another five minutes, add the spinach, parsley, dill and chives. Turn off the heat and taste the soup - add any extra seasoning if needed. Let the soup sit for 15 minutes. I prefer to put the cooled soup in the fridge and eat the next day – this gives the flavours time to develop. But you can of course it eat it straight away!
4). When you are ready to serve, gently bring the soup to heat (if it was refrigerated). Only re-heat the amount you will need. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato and garlic bread. Pre-heat a fry pan over medium heat. Roughly dice the tomatoes and place in a small bowl with the thyme, garlic oil and olive oil. Mash the tomato mix up well with a fork or your hands and rub each ide of the sour dough slices with the mix. Season the bread well with salt and pepper and place in the pre-heated pan (you will need to do this in batches if you pan doesn’t fit all the bread). Turn the bread over when it has gone all nice and golden (3-4 minutes) and fry the other side. Repeat. Add some extra chopped herbs to the soup and divide the soup into bowls. Top with parmesan if you like and serve with the warm tomato bread. Enjoy!
