Make Your Own Minestrone Soup...Suitable For Vegans

So this is my very first cooking related blog post and I couldn't be more excited! Also it's my 100th blog post! Wheyyy!

One of my many New Years resolutions was to learn to cook.

Although I could do basic cooking, I never really enjoyed the process of it and didn't really have a passion for learning new recipes. 

I think I'm sticking to that resolution quite well as I now know quite a few healthy meals that I really enjoy making.

It's very calming for me actually and I like to take my time with it. 

Today I'm going to show you how to make a minestrone soup that is suitable for vegetarians and vegans too. It's also suitable for summer, in case you were thinking 'soup in this weather?'

It's super tasty, super healthy and so so easy to make. 

If like me, you're not into your vegetables, don't panic! A lot of the ingredients sounded off-putting to me as they aren't typical minestrone soup ingredients but I'm so glad I tried it anyway as it's now one of my very favourite meals. So don't knock it until you've tried it. 

This recipe was very much inspired by Ross Dobsons vegan minestrone soup. However I played around with it a bit and changed some things so it's not exactly the same. I definitely would recommend having a look at some of his vegan recipes as they are amazing by the way!

This recipe makes 2 servings.

I've tried to make this as easy as possible so if you are awful at cooking, even you can do this! I have faith in you all.

You will need:-

A kettle

A chopping board

A tablespoon

A small but sharp knife (please be careful)

A colander

A measuring jug

A large saucepan 

A wooden spoon

A cheese grater

A cute bowl to put it in

A spoon to eat it with!

Ingredients:-

1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil

1/2 a white onion

1 garlic clove

400g of tinned ready cooked chickpeas

60g of green beans or runner beans

6 cherry tomatoes 

A small handful of parsley

3 vegetable stock cubes

50g of spaghetti

1 large handful of rocket leaves

25g of cheese or if vegan a substitute such as nutritional yeast or parma

Himalayan rock salt 

Black pepper

This is a seriously cheap meal to make by the way so if you do want to try it, it won't cost you a lot. I got all my ingredients from Asda.

The chickpeas were 45p 

The green beans were 95p

The rocket was 50p

Tomatoes were 89p

The onion was 11p

The spaghetti was 56p

And the parsley was 60p

The only thing where you have to use it all is the chickpeas. You still have ingredients left over to make more than two servings if you wanted too.

I'm pretty sure most of you already have oil, cheese, garlic, stock cubes and salt and pepper. Those are just cupboard essentials but even if you don't...it's still very cheap to buy. 

Ok so first things first, you need to prep the vegetables before you can start cooking.

This is probably what takes the longest.

I would say that if you are a slow cooker like myself, start this whole process about an hour and a half before you want to eat, lol. 

So first chop the onion.

Then chop the garlic.

Rinse and drain the chickpeas in the colander.

Slice the runner beans.

Chop the parsley.

Break the spaghetti into small pieces (this is the most satisfying thing you'll do today, I assure you).

Grate some cheese.

Break up your vegetable stock cubes into a measuring jug. Don't add the water just yet.

And you're good to go!

Ok so pour one tablespoon of olive oil into the large saucepan. Then set it over a low heat until the oil becomes more 'watery?'

I have such a way with words.

Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes. You might want to put a lid partially over it as it can spit. Also frequently stir it about as the onions burn quite quickly. But don't panic if they do, because it won't ruin it. 

Whilst you're waiting for the 4 minutes, boil the kettle. 

Add the garlic and cook that with the onions for a further minute. 

Whilst you're waiting add 750ml of hot water to the broken up vegetable stock cubes in the measuring jug and give it a little stir.

The minute for your garlic should now be up, so add the stock to the saucepan. This will stop it spitting at you. :')

Then add the spaghetti, the chickpeas, the runner beans. the tomatoes and the parsley and bring it to a boil by turning it up to a medium heat.

Once it's boiling, reduce to a low heat and let it simmer for about 40 minutes. 

Make sure to check on it often and stir it.

It may not look the most appetising just yet, but minestrone soups tend not to!

You now have 40 minutes to do what you like. Learn a dance routine, put a load of washing on, play Crash Bandicoot (taking over my life by the way) or simply sit and stare at the wall. Whatever tickles your pickle.

After 40 minutes go and give it a little taste test to check the spaghetti is cooked, which it should be.

I really like the taste of the soup as it is, but you can choose to season it to your tastes. Pink Himalayan rock salt is really nice if you're having this in the summer months. During winter I like the idea of black pepper as it's one of my favourite flavours and adds warmth.

PS: any salt will do.

Next...add the rocket leaves and stir them into the soup until they wilt.

Turn off the heat, because you are done. That's it. You made it. You go girl...or boy.

Now you just need to put it into a super cute instagrammable soup bowl. Or just one of those shit ones that mums always tend to have in the cupboard with pictures of barnyard animals on. Whatever.

I got my bowl from Flying Tiger by the way :) £2

Then sprinkle over the cheese. Everyone who has tried this soup have said they LOVED the added texture and taste of the cheese. 

Obviously if you're vegan, go without or use a substitute. 

(I may have added a little bit too much cheese!)

Now all that's left to do is enjoy!

Bon appetite

Bone apple fleet

Bonje gapple neat

I hope you really enjoyed this post.

I had a lot of fun creating it and would LOVE for you guys to try making it yourself. If you do, pleaseeeeeee tag me in photos or message me to say you tried it. Anything. I'd love to know if you did it. 

Also, if you enjoyed this post please let me know because I'm happy to do more cooking related posts as this was a lot of fun. Or if you simply have any other suggestions, please do get in touch and I will try my best!

Hope you are all healthy and well :)

Much Love, 

Disclaimer: This recipe is inspired by Ross Dobson. All photos and words are my own.