A robust colourful soup to suit all seasons; you'll love this low FODMAP Minestrone soup! This is an Italian vegetable soup. Lots of chunky veggies, pulses, leafy greens and bacon, simmered in a tomato broth. This is unapologetically rustic peasant food at its best. Comfort food. It cooks in one pot, comes together in an hour and is a complete meal in a bowl. This is hearty enough to satisfy as a main course, even without bread!
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❓ Overview
- render bacon (cook to melt off fat - no chewy fatty bits, but all the flavour)
- soften diced carrot and celery - about 25 minutes
- add stock with all the other non-leafy ingredients
- simmer for about 20 minutes
- add kale to soften and basil right at the end
- serve!
🥘 Ingredients
💩How do we make FODMAP friendly Minestrone?
What ingredients do we leave out/limit or use freely to make this gut-friendly?
- NO onion or garlic
- LIMITED celery, zucchini, tomatoes and cannellini beans. These are kept within guideline limits per portion
- LOW FODMAP stock or Homemade Vegetable Stock Paste
- NATURALLY LOW FODMAP - everything else! Bacon, carrot, potatoes, rice, kale, basil & olive oil
You don't have to take my word for it. I highly recommend the Monash University FODMAP app for checking low FODMAP foods and recommended limits quickly and easily.
This is not only low FODMAP Minestrone soup, but also gluten-free. Make sure the stock you use is gluten free. If you want to make one yourself, try mine?
It's important to use starchy potatoes and short grain rice. They make all the difference to the mouthfeel of this soup. Both of these ingredients release thickening starch. Even though we use a small amount of rice in this recipe, it makes all the difference. I once tried using basmati (long-grain rice). Don't be like me! If you use basmati rice, the soup won't be as creamy and rich.
Disclaimer: the photos here show basmati rice. The soup is runnier (and not as tasty) as the way I make it every time since 🙄 I'll retake my photos at some point!
If you happen to have a parmesan rind in your freezer, throw this in the pot too. It adds great flavour to soups and stews. Always a bonus if it end up in your bowl too!
🔪 Instructions
Make this as ‘rustic’ as you like
It makes sense to chop the veg into similarly-sized pieces - for even cooking time and good looks. If you want pretty soup, take more time chopping the ingredients into smaller pieces. Smaller pieces will cook faster. If ‘rustic’ is more your style (or the degree of chopping you’re up for that day), go chunkier. Remember that the cooking times are guidelines only – taste the soup to check if veg are tender enough.
The exception to this is the leafy greens (kale and basil). I recommend finely shredding these into short-ish strands for a better eating experience.
Make sure you cook your vegetables until soft!
We start by cooking the carrots and celery. These take longer than the other vegetables. Please don’t proceed to the next step until they are soft. I can’t explain why, but they’ll never get soft later! The same goes for the rice and potatoes – make sure these are tender before you add your leafy greens right at the end. Minestrone is not the place for crunchy veg with ‘bite’. Undercooked rice and potatoes are not welcome here.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- large saucepan or stockpot (at least 5 litre capacity)
Ingredients
- 80 g streaky bacon
- 300 g carrots about four medium
- 80 g celery about ½ stick (note)
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 350 g potatoes two medium
- 250 g zucchini/courgettes two medium
- 400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
- 2 Litres veg/chicken stock (note)
- 60 g short-grain rice such as arborio (about 4 Tablespoons)
- 425 g no-salt canned cannellini beans (about 250g once rinsed and drained)
- rind from a piece of parmesan (note)
- 50 g kale (a large handful)
- small handful basil leaves
To serve:
- olive oil to drizzle
- parmesan cheese finely grated
Instructions
- Bacon, Carrots & Celery - chop these into similarly- sized pieces. Set the bacon aside.80 g streaky bacon300 g carrots80 g celery
- Render Bacon - put the bacon into a cold large saucepan/stock pot (no need for oil). Turn the heat up to high and cook until much of the bacon fat has melted and the bacon is starting to brown. Stir often to prevent it sticking.
- Sauté Celery & Carrot – add the oil to the pot, then the celery and carrots. Cook over low-medium heat for about 20 minutes (lid on), stirring often, until tender. While they’re cooking, peel and chop the potatoes and zucchini. Aim for a similar size to the ingredients you chopped before. Tip the canned tomatoes into a large bowl and crush by hand (note). Don’t throw away the can before using a little of the stock to swill it out a get every drop of tomato out. Add this to the rest of the tomato.3 Tablespoons olive oil350 g potatoes250 g zucchini/courgettes400 g canned whole peeled tomatoes
- Potato, Zucchini & Tomato - once the celery and carrot are tender (and not before!), you can proceed! You should be able to smoosh a piece of each between your thumb and finger. Then, add the potato, zucchini and crushed tomatoes to the pot.
- Stock, Rice, Beans & (optional) Parmesan – add these to the pot and stir through.2 Litres veg/chicken stock60 g short-grain rice425 g no-salt canned cannellini beansrind from a piece of parmesan
- Simmer - keeping the lid off, gently simmer soup for about 20 minutes until the rice is cooked and the potato is soft. You can prep the kale and basil while you’re waiting.
- Kale - make sure you remove any thick stalks from the kale so that only the curly leaves remain. Finely shred the kale, making sure the strands aren't too long. Stir through to wilt and warm through. This only takes a few minutes. Season the soup to taste.50 g kale
- To Serve - finely chop the basil and stir though. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan (if using).small handful basil leavesolive oilparmesan cheese
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