Vegetable-y Tomato soup

Summary

Yield
Servings
SourceI've been slowly iterating on the recipe from Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson
Prep time10 minutes
Cooking time35 minutes
Total time45 minutes

Description

Who doesn't love a good minestrone, apparently also called Italian wedding soup! This vegan one pot soup is simple, healthy, delicious and oil free.

The whole secret of a good tomato soup is simmering, tomatoes just love a good simmering. The vegetables listed are my base but they are rarely the only ones which go in, tonight I added thinly sliced red cabbage, the last one had celery and yellow squashes in. With the beans/lentils, add what you like, you can get great dried italian bean mixes (though soak overnight), I get a nice mix of Puy lentils and freekeh I add and it doesn't need presoaking.

What isn't optional though is to serve with some good lightly toasted bread, and olive bread is going to be particularly good.

Ingredients

1
Onion (Chopped in sort of a chunky dice)
1
Carrot (I quarter is lenghways and then cut it into pieces a little smaller than a centimetre.)
1
Zucchini (Also called a courgette. Same as carrot.)
3 c
Pumpkin (Diced into pieces no bigger than an inch. Butternut squash also fine, or even a sweet potato.)
6 c
Stock (Vegetable)
2 clv
Garlic (chopped, maybe 3 cloves if they are small.)
1 cn
Tomatoes (375g diced style)
1 1⁄2 t
Basil (dried)
3⁄4 t
Oregano (dried)
1
Bay leaf
 
Pepper (Black and freshly ground best)
1 cn
Mixed Beans (Drained.)
1⁄2 c
Lentils (Any sort, if getting dried then red lentils work best with cooking time.)
1 c
Pasta (I use wholemeal spirals, but whatever you like.)
2 T
Tomato paste

Notes

Get a nice big pot for this with a lid!

Instructions

1. Heat the pan to a medium heat, water should spit on it.
2. Add the onions.
3. After a minute or so stir in the carrots, zucchini and garlic.
4. After another minute or so stir in the pumpkin.
5. After another minute stir in the canned tomato.
6. Add the stock and lentils.
7. Add the herbs and plenty of pepper.
8. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 15 minutes (use a timer, such as the one on your phone). The simmering is the key to the whole thing, it should just be oh so slightly bubbling, if it is too high it will overcook the vegetables. Experiment with leaving the lid open a bit to get the simmering just right.
9. Throw in the can of beans, tomato paste and pasta.
10. Cook, without letting it boil, for a further 15 minutes or until pasta al dente.