As you can probably tell, we are big believers in settling in as quickly as we can, especially in the kitchen! We love cooking and we also love keeping to our budget, so it’s important to get into the habit of cooking a meal in our new digs as soon as we possibly can. And that means the very first day, if we have arrived before noon. That gives us time to see what is available in the kitchen, to find the nearest grocery store, poke around there a bit, and to get right to it. More soon on that first grocery shop, but for now, here’s the first meal we usually make, minestrone soup. It’s endlessly flexible so you don’t have to worry if a particular ingredient is not available. It’s full of veg because when we’re in transit there never seem to be enough of those. It gets a few basics into your cupboard for later use. And who doesn’t love soup?
This is technically a minestrone because of the pasta, though we are not sure John’s Italian mamma would recognize it. Apparently, you can even use rice in a minestrone. We are fairly improvisational as cooks, so this is a skeleton recipe: throw in your favourite vegetables and herbs.
You will need
No equipment beyond kitchen basics. Serves 4 and takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. If you have ample storage (containers and fridge space), consider doubling it, because soup only gets better over time
- 2T olive oil
- 1 or more onions of whatever size and colour, chopped
- 4 or so cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced about ¼”/ 1.25 cm thick
- 2 ribs of celery, sliced about ¼”/ 1.25 cm thick
- 4 cups/ 18 oz./ 500 g of any or all of the following, depending on your taste:
- Zucchini/courgettes, sliced ¼”/ 1.25 cm thick and quartered
- Bell peppers
- Broccoli florets and stems, chopped fairly small
- Cauliflower florets, chopped fairly small
- Cabbage or other greens, chopped into 1” pieces
- Fennel, chopped into ½” / 2.5 cm pieces
- You can also add frozen vegetables e.g. peas, corn/maize, spinach
- To avoid: eggplant/aubergine, beets (these take too long to cook)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 small can/tin chopped tomatoes (14 oz/ 400g)
- 1 can of beans (14 oz/ 400g): we’ve tried white, kidney, black, chickpeas
- 1 cup/ 125g small pasta or rice
- 4 T/ 55g fresh herbs, chopped: oregano, basil, coriander, dill, celery leaves…
- Loaf crusty bread, sliced
- At least one roll toilet paper (not for the recipe, but do get some on this first trip)
Directions
Heat up the oil to medium-hot in your larger pot while you finish chopping vegetables. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes until it begins to brown. Add salt and pepper to taste, then the garlic and vegetables, in order of size and thickness (largest to smallest, most dense to least – so broccoli before zucchini before cabbage). Cook, stirring often, until they seem about half-done. Add cans/tins of tomatoes and beans, pasta or rice, and another two cans of water. Bring to a boil and cook 15-20 minutes, until vegetables have softened and pasta/rice is done. Add half the fresh herbs, stir, and let cook another 2 minutes. Serve, top with the remaining herbs.
Note: this soup is not restricted to meanderers: it tastes great even if you are living in the same place for years. Try it and let us know what you think!
“Minestrone Soup 3” by Fimb is marked with CC BY 2.0.
