Minestrone and Meatball Soup

In a large saucepan, gently fry onion and garlic over a low heat until transparent.

Throw in carrots, celery, courgettes, green beans or any other veggies you have on hand. Make sure they are cut roughly to the same size so they cook evenly. Any denser vegetables should be diced smaller.

Cook vegetables over a medium heat until carrots start to soften and brown a little.

Add tomatoes, tomato paste and stock and bring to a gentle simmer.

Add cannellini beans, kidney beans and pasta and simmer gently for at least 20 minutes or until the pasta has softened.

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While soup is simmering, make tiny meatballs. Mix beef mince with dried basil, a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper.

Form a meatball from a heaped teaspoon of the minced beef mixture. Repeat until all mince mixture is used. Make sure they are small, otherwise they’ll break apart in the soup.

Fry meatballs in a little olive oil until lightly browned all over.

When pasta is softened, add meatballs, spinach and basil and stir through.

Simmer for another 5 minutes then, if wished, serve with a swirl of pesto on top or a dusting of Parmesan, or both.