
Italian-style spring soup
Prep
20 mins
Cook
40 mins
Servings
4
Difficulty
Medium
This Italian style spring soup is one of my go to weeknight dinners because it comes together in just an hour and costs surprisingly little to make. I love how the fresh spring greens give you a serious boost of vitamins and minerals, plus they add such a lovely vibrant color to the pot. The beauty of this recipe is its simplicity: just chop your vegetables, toss everything into one pot, and let it simmer while you relax. A spoonful of basil pesto at the end brings authentic Italian flavor without any fuss, and the hearty brown rice and chickpeas make it genuinely satisfying. It's the kind of comforting, wholesome meal that feels homemade and special but won't keep you stuck at the stove.
Ella x
Ingredients
- 1 tbspolive oil
- 1onion(thinly sliced)
- 2garlic cloves(finely sliced)
- 2celery(sticks, thinly sliced)
- 2carrots(diced)
- 4 sprig/sfresh thyme
- 100 gramslovelife basmati brown rice
- 1½ litre/svegetable stock(hot)
- 400 gramscan essential chick peas(drained and rinsed)
- 500 gramspack essential spring greens(leaves very finely shredded)
- 1 tbspsacla' italia free from basil pesto
Detail level
Instructions
- 1
Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots and thyme. Cook gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is softened and golden. Add the rice and stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally until rice is tender.
- 2
Lift out the thyme stalks and stir in half the chick peas. Using a stick blender, roughly blend the soup.
- 3
Stir in the remaining chick peas and spring greens, and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until the greens are tender. Ladle the soup into bowls, and swirl a little pesto into each one before serving.
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