This tried to be minestrone, but you work with what you’ve got and I didn’t exactly have all the minestrone stuff. I have to say, I’m lucky because my veg box provides a lot of great things for yummy soup! If you’re interested in a pasta veggie soup, this soup has 5 basic parts:

1. A bunch of chopped veg. It really doesn’t matter what veg you use as long as you have an onion and maybe a carrot. I used this stuff from my veg box: an onion, a big carrot, half a green pepper, part of a fennel, celery (not from my veg box, but needed to be used), 2 potatoes, and some garlic and salt. Sautéed this is a big pot for maybe 7 mins.

2. A tomato base. Once the veg looks cooked, dump in a can of tomatoes and then a couple of cans of water. You don’t need a measuring cup, just use the can.

3. Spices. Use what you have and what you like. I added a bay leaf, some dried basil, pepper, and dried oregano at this point, brought the whole thing to a boil and then let everything simmer for about 10 mins. I also added some nutritional yeast for some extra yum. I’m not someone who has a Parmesan rind kicking around the house, but I find nutritional yeast gives a bit of that extra punch.

4. Delicious carbs. Pick your pasta. I had spaghetti noodles that I broke up and added after it had been simmering for 10 mins. Let them cook in the soup. It is delicious.

5. Protein. Use whatever you have kicking around. I used a can of borlotti beans. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what the heck those beans are, they were a substitute for chickpeas from Tesco online shopping back when I could do online shopping. They look nothing like chickpeas. But I googled them and Italians say they are delicious, so I put them in this soup. Yup, they are delicious in soup. Anyhow, after you dump in your pasta, dump in your protein. Let it all cook.

When the pasta is done, I added some fresh parsley and thyme I had. It gives the soup some nice colour. Feel free to add your last legs spinach or other greens you need to use up. Your soup is now good to go. Tastes nice now, probably better tomorrow.