Chunky Minestrone (Yes, in a Milk Maker)
Proof that not everything has to be blended into oblivion. The Chunky soup program cooks the vegetables without pulverising them so you get a real minestrone, with things to chew.
You'll need
- 1 carrot, diced small
- 1 courgette, diced small
- 1 celery stick, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- A handful of small pasta or cooked white beans
- Salt and black pepper
Method
- Dice everything small and even. Chunky does not mean careless uneven pieces cook unevenly.
- Load the jug. Vegetables, tomatoes, stock and oil. Stay under the max line.
- Press Chunky soup. It cooks and stirs, but it does not blend to a purée.
- Cook the pasta separately and stir it in at the end. In the jug it turns to mush every time.
- Finish with olive oil and a hard grind of black pepper.
The mistake everyone makes. Throwing dry pasta into the jug. It absorbs the stock, swells, and jams the blade. Boil it in a separate pan, drain, and add it to the bowl. Ninety seconds of extra work, and the difference between minestrone and wallpaper paste.
Make it your own
- Protein: cooked cannellini or borlotti beans, stirred in at the end.
- Winter: swap the courgette for diced squash and add a bay leaf.
- Green: a handful of spinach in the hot soup at the end it wilts in seconds.
Better on day two. Make it the night before.