Well, I simply refused to take less than a whole vegetable each, and suddenly there was quite a lot. So better have a large pot ready! But the minestrone tastes damn good. What I put in:

  • 1 bell pepper
  • 1 zucchini
  • 3 tomatoes
  • 3 celery stalks
  • 1 large carrot
  • 3 small potatoes
  • 100g streaky bacon
  • Parmesan with rind
  • 150g green beans
  • 2 purple onions
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 bunch basil (fresh)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • a handful of olives (black, pitted, natural)
  • 1l vegetable broth
  • 50g butter
  • olive oil
  • approx. 50g spaghetti (broken into pieces)

The preparation is really hard work and in the first phase there is not much peace. And it's best to group the vegetables as indicated below, because they go into the pot one after the other - everything is first fried. But otherwise it's actually quite simple:

  1. Dice the bacon and put it on a plate
  2. Dice the onions and garlic and put them in a small bowl
  3. Dice the potatoes, celery, and carrots and put them in a bowl
  4. Chop the beans and put them in a bowl
  5. Dice the bell pepper and zucchini and put them in a bowl
  6. Heat the pot with olive oil and the butter
  7. Fry the bacon for 2 minutes in it (stir vigorously!)
  8. Put the onions with garlic in the pot and fry for 2 minutes (stir vigorously!)
  9. Put the potatoes, celery, and carrots in the pot and fry for 2 minutes (stir vigorously!)
  10. Put the beans in the pot and fry for 2 minutes (stir vigorously!)
  11. Put the zucchini and bell pepper in the pot and fry for 2 minutes (stir vigorously! if your arm feels like it's about to fall off: that's normal, keep stirring!)
  12. Put the lid on, turn down the heat and let the vegetables simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
  13. The arm can't rest unfortunately, because now the tomatoes are diced and if desired the olives are cut small (I always leave them whole in soups).
  14. Before the 15 minutes are up, throw in the olives (after about half the time)
  15. Chop the basil
  16. When the 15 minutes are up, put the vegetable broth in the pot, stir
  17. Put in the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and basil, season with pepper and salt
  18. Throw in the parmesan rind (I tie it with kitchen string so it's easy to fish out again)
  19. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer gently for an hour (on my monster pot half a point on the electric stove is enough)
  20. Fish out the parmesan rind and throw it away
  21. Put in the spaghetti and cook for 10 minutes

I then eat the whole thing simply with bread. You can also put sour cream in the soup, or very Italian, grate parmesan on top. With a glass of wine.