A warm bowl of veggie soup conjures warmth and hidden nutrition with each slurp that make it a hard-to-beat winter meal.

To make a pot of veggie soup, select your favourite vegetables, a can of white beans and small pasta like ditalini, and you’re halfway there… just the chopping is left! but it’s worth the effort when you see the smiles of your satiated family. Veggie soup tastes best when it’s made ahead of time and rested, just remember to add the pasta as the last step before serving.

Health benefits –

·       Cavolo Nero kale is a powerful antioxidant and is also high in vitamins A, K and calcium.

·       An ingredient in kale, called sulphorane, produces enzymes that detoxify the liver.

BEAN, PASTA & VEGGIE SOUP

PB

1 leek, sliced

3 celery sticks, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

1 garlic clove, flattened to release flavour

4 cups (1 L.) vegetable stock

1 potato, cubed

1 tomato, roughly diced

pinch of sea salt

bay leaf

400 g tin cannellini beans

bunch of Tuscan kale, stem removed and roughly sliced

1/3 cup (65 g) small pasta

Add onion, garlic, carrot and celery to a large saucepan with a little water on a medium heat and sauté with the lid on for about 5 minutes, stirring a few times. Add vegetables (except kale), stock and season with sea salt. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 40 minutes with the lid on until the vegetables become super soft and melt into each other making a creamy texture. Add the drained canned cannellini beans and kale and simmer for a further 5 minutes with the lid off, adding more water if needed. Lastly, add pasta and cook for 5-15 minutes depending on how long the pasta takes to cook. If you’re not eating the soup straight away, don’t add the pasta or rice until you plan to eat it. It usually takes 5 minutes for pasta to cook. Remove the bay leaf.