Veggie Rustic Italian Soup
with Cheesy Croutons
Mamma mia, we’re excited to bring you this rustic soup. It’s got all the good stuff: crispy Parmesan croutons, rich tomato and warming chilli. Partially blending your soup gives it a more ‘creamy’ consistency without adding anything extra - it’s one of our favourite little kitchen hacks!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Produced in a facility that processes eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts and wheat.
Ingredients
1 clove
garlic
1
red onion
1 stalk
celery
1
carrot
1
birdseye chilli
1
ciabatta
(Contains: Gluten, Soy, Wheat; May be present: Eggs, Almond, Hazelnut, Milk, Sesame, Lupin.)
½ block
Parmesan cheese
(Contains: Milk;)
1 tin
diced tomatoes
1 cube
vegetable stock
1 tin
borlotti beans
½ bag
baby spinach leaves
Not included in your delivery
2 tsp
olive oil
1 cup
water
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Preheat the grill to a medium heat. To prepare the ingredients, peel and crush the garlic. Finely chop the red onion, celery, carrot (peeled) and birdseye chilli (deseeded). Finely grate the Parmesan cheese. Crumble the vegetable stock. Drain and rinse the borlotti beans and wash the baby spinach.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a low heat. Add the garlic, red onion, celery, carrot and birdseye chilli. Place the lid slightly ajar on the pan and cook slowly on a low heat for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut the ciabatta in half and sprinkle with half of the Parmesan cheese. Put the halves on a lined oven tray and slide it under the grill for about 5 minutes - you want to make sure that the bread becomes crunchy. Keep an eye on your bread so that it does not burn! When it is ready, leave it to cool then slice it into thick croutons.
Once the veggies have softened, add the diced tomatoes, water, and crumbled vegetable stock. Leave everything to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the borlotti beans and a bit more water if needed and simmer for another 10 minutes. Use a hand-held blender to pulse the soup just a couple of times to thicken it up. Tip: If you don’t have a stick blender, spoon a bit of soup out and blitz with a blender or even mash with a potato masher to get your desired consistency, then stir through the remaining soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
When you are ready to serve the soup, stir through the baby spinach, it will wilt in moments so you won’t need to cook it. To serve, add the cheesy croutons and a good grating of the remaining Parmesan cheese.
