Recipe: Minestrone with barley and basil pesto
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After a ‘money-saving meal'? This recipe packed full of vegetables comes from a new book by that very title and costs just $2.40 per serve.
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- Recipe: Minestrone with barley and basil pesto
Minestrone delights the eye as well as the tastebuds. Most minestrone recipes suggest you add some rice or pasta pieces. This one has a nutty pearl barley.
- 15 mins to prepare
- 45 mins to cook
- Makes 4-6 serves
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 4 lean bacon rashers, diced (optional)
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
- 3 small baby new potatoes, diced
- 1 celery stalk, finely sliced
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 3 teaspoons dried basil or an Italian herb blend
- ½ cup pearl barley, rinsed
- 5 cups hot chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 cup green peas (frozen are fine)
- 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
- 2-3 tablespoons basil pesto (optional)
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan and gently sauté the onion, garlic and bacon over a medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
2. Stir the carrot, potato, celery, zucchini, tomato, dried basil and barley, then add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for about 40 minutes or until the barley is tender.
3. Stir in the peas, shredded cabbage and a little extra water if you want a thinner soup, bring back to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for a minute or two until the peas are cooked and the cabbage is hot but still crunchy. Ladle into soup bowls and top with a dollop of pesto if you wish.
Nifty and thrifty
Feed six by adding a can of drained and rinsed bortolli beans plus an extra cup or two of stock.
Boost flavour for free. Is there an old piece of parmesan cheese grated down to the rind in the fridge? Pop it in the pot while the soup is cooking.
Leftover cabbage? Make another meal. Use it for sweet chilli noodle salad with beef, cabbage and coriander.
No barley? Use what's on hand. Add ½ cup of brown rice, which takes about the same time to cook. If you use broken bits of spaghetti or small pasta pieces like risoni or stellini, add them to the saucepan 8-10 minutes before the end of cooking time.
No peas? That's fine. Replace them with some corn or beans. Add ½ cup or so for some extra colour.
Cooking ahead? Cool the soup when the barley is cooked and pop, covered, into the fridge for the next day. To serve, reheat, add the peas and cabbage and finish cooking.
This is an extract from Money Saving Meals, by Philippa Sandall and Diane Temple, published by Hachette Australia. RRP $19.95
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