Autumn Vegetable Soup - Italian Style

 

A bowl of hot, tasty soup has got to be our favourite meal when the weather gets colder, and it's perfect for cooking in a big batch and taking to work for lunch.

This recipe makes a large pot of soup for the colder evenings and uses autumnal vegetables. If you don't have tiny pasta, break up some spaghetti into small pieces.

Ingredients
1 large leek sliced
2 carrots diced
1 onion chopped
2 celery sticks diced
1 potato diced
1 courgette diced
450g tomatoes diced or use a can of chopped tomatoes
2 litres water or stock
piece of Parmesan cheese rind
salt and black pepper
50g spinach leaves sliced
1 can borlotti beans
75g tiny pasta shapes such as farfalline

Method
Take a 9 litre AGA stockpot and put in the leek, carrots, onion, celery, potato, courgette, tomatoes, water or stock and a piece of Parmesan rind, season.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

2,3 and 4 Oven AGA
Transfer the covered stockpot to the simmering oven and cook for 1 hour. Add the drained borlotti beans, spinach leaves and pasta to the stockpot, stir and simmer for 6-8 minutes.
Remove the Parmesan rind and serve in bowls accompanied by crusty bread.